rodrikstark's headcanons (part 1)

f. adler + first time meeting mary

you stop at the bottom of the steps leading to the back door of frank's place. the rattling of his keys opening the door makes it feel too real.

he looks over his shoulder. "what's wrong?"

your eyes lose focus. "what if she doesn't like me?"

he bounds back down the steps, encourages you to sit with him, and draws you close to his side. "i won't lie: that's a strong possibility."

you whimper. "frank."

he chuckles. "mary likes like, three people total." behind you, a gentle meow distracts you from your despair. a one-eyed orange cat squeezes through the crack in the door to rub against your leg, clearly curious. "two, if you don't count fred as a person."

you bury a high pitched whine into his neck, scratching fred's soft fur. "that's not funny."

"i like you enough for the both of us," he mumbles, dotting a kiss to your hairline. "you know that, right?"

fred worms his way into your lap, his whiskers tickling your face as you nod.

frank goes inside to make mary a snack, something that apparently makes her less cranky after a long day at school. you sit miserably in the humid air, scratching your leg nervously and fuming about how his little joke keeps sneaking its way into your thoughts.

a strong possibility.

an alarm sounds in your head when a yellow school bus turns lazily onto the street, children spilling out the doors once it creaks to a halt. you jerk your head around, wishing frank would hurry.

even from several yards' distance, you can see a deep frown on the blonde girl's face when she spots you. she marches away from the bus, lunch box swinging.

frank emerges with a plate of celery and peanut butter at the same moment mary gets close enough to ask, "who are you?"

you suck in a breath, introducing yourself then adding: "i'm frank's girlfriend."

mary processes this with narrowed eyes as fred leaps off your lap and pushes his way between her skinny legs. she steps closer. "what do you even like about him?"

frank, who had lowered the snack plate to mary's height, takes it away now. "hey."

rolling your eyes and reaching an arm up, you nab a couple of celery sticks and hand one to mary. "honestly? there are times when i ask myself that same question." you take a disgruntled bite out of your snack.

mary giggles at that, sticking her tongue out at frank before spinning and plopping herself next to you. she lets fred lick some of the peanut butter off her celery. "he can be okay sometimes."

you smile to yourself when frank leans down, kissing the top of mary's head, then yours. "yeah, sometimes."