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Alec watched Magnus sigh for the third time in less than ten minutes and frowned, looking over at him. Magnus had offered to help him with the research, but by the way his boyfriend was rubbing his temples and glaring at the books in front of him, he was clearly regretting the offer. "Magnus?"
Magnus looked up, glad for the reprieve from the words that were threatening to swim in front of him the longer he stared at them. He’d forgotten how hard it was to read without his glasses now that he hadn’t bothered going without them for long periods of time. But he wasn’t about to tell Alec that he needed glasses when he was reading older texts because the handwriting made his eyes ache.
"You know, if you’re busy, or you have other things to do, you don’t have to stay,” Alec said, clearing his throat. He looked down at the books and the pile that sat in front of them. He had to keep going through to see what they could find on the latest demon attacks, but Magnus certainly didn't if he was busy. "I know you’re-"
"I’m happy to be here,” Magnus said, reaching out to squeeze Alec’s hand. He smiled and lifted it, pressing a kiss to the back of Alec’s hand. "I promise. There’s nowhere I’d rather be right now, than with you."
Alec gave a small nod and turned back to the books. "Is everything okay then? You're uh, you’re sighing?”
Magnus tensed and looked up at Alec, offering him a sunny smile. "Only out of frustration of not finding things that could potentially help us. And to find things that look like potential leads, only to have them lead nowhere." Which was true for at least one of his sighs. The rest were entirely due to the headache he could feel forming between his temples.
"Okay,” Alec said, twisting his hand so he could hold Magnus’, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It’s okay if you need to stop, I promise."
Magnus smiled and gave Alec another quick kiss before turning back to his book.
Thankfully (at least for his eyes) they were called away when another demon attack pulled them from their research and Magnus had to refrain from sagging in relief. Destroying demons and keeping these stubborn shadowhunters of his alive? This he could do.
Without glasses.
~!~
Alec pushed his fingers through his hair and slipped through the front door of the loft, relaxing as the wards settled around his shoulders, making him smile. Home, after what was almost a twenty-hour day, was going to be heaven. Now he just needed to see if Magnus had found anything while he was researching and it really would be the perfect-
Alec froze as he stepped into the living room and took in the sight of Magnus on the couch, a book sprawled across his lap, his head back against the pillows, and glasses on his face. He blinked and stared at Magnus for a few long seconds, tracing the way the frames fit his face. Catching sight of the name Bane on the side, he resisted the urge to smile. Of course Magnus would have designed his own glasses.
But why was this the first time he was seeing them?
Alec frowned and stepped closer, clearing his throat, watching Magnus sit up in a rush. "Hey,” he said, managing a smile. "You fell asleep on the couch."
Magnus sighed and pressed his fingers against his temple, belatedly realizing that he was still wearing his glasses. He cursed and yanked them off, giving them an offended glare. "Sorry, I was just-”
“Wait, no, hold on,” Alec protested, stepping closer, giving Magnus a quick kiss out of habit before sitting beside him, looking at the glasses in his fingers. All at once, Magnus’ sighs and frustrations with research were starting to make sense. "Are those yours?"
Magnus clenched his jaw shut for a long moment before he gave a quick nod, pulling the glasses closer. "They didn’t have a term for it until this century, but I have astigmatism in both my eyes. It causes a great deal of eye strain. My magic keeps the problem from becoming worse, which is a blessing, but reading old handwritten text is often a struggle,” he admitted, looking down at the glasses. "These, uh. They help."
Alec blinked and stared at Magnus. "Why, what? Magnus! Why haven’t you been wearing them all along? By the angel, Magnus, I didn’t want you to hurt yourself helping us to do research!”
Magnus sighed and looked down at the glasses. "I have, very much a love/hate relationship with these."
"Why?” Alec asked, looking from the glasses, back to his boyfriend. "I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but those looked great on you. Everything looks great on you."
"I shouldn’t need them,” Magnus said with a sigh. "I wish I didn’t need them. I tried for years to design a spell that would do the same thing, but this is one area that the mundanes have, without question, moved ahead on."
Alec tilted his head and reached out to take the glasses, settling them on Magnus’ face again, meeting his boyfriend’s eyes with a smile. "I like them on you,” he admitted, smiling. "They make you look…" he flushed and cleared his throat. "A bit bookish.”
Magnus raised both of his eyebrows and turned to face Alexander properly, a delighted grin curling his lips. "Alexander… do you…"
"I mean!” Alec’s eyes widened and he flushed. "I love how you look all of the time Magnus, and it’s not like I want you to look any different and-"
Magnus kept his finger pressed to Alec’s lips and raised both of his eyebrows, watching Alec flush darker still and stare at him. "There’s a difference between wanting me to change who I am and how I dress and simply liking something for aesthetic purposes.”
Alec nodded and swallowed hard. "I, I really like them. And I think you shouldn’t be embarrassed to wear them. They look, fuck you look hot, Magnus."
Magnus laughed in delight, staring at Alexander, shaking his head. He adjusted the glasses a fraction and smirked at his shadowhunter. "You think so?”
Alec gave a rapid head nod. “Yes.”
Magnus grinned and winked at Alec, watching that delightful flush of his start to move down his neck. "Why don’t you show me just how much?”
“Right,” Alec breathed, caught up in staring at Magnus. When his glamour dropped and golden eyes were blinking at him slowly through the glasses he groaned and pushed Magnus back onto the couch. "Cheating!" he growled.
Magnus laughed and wrapped his arms around Alec, pulling him into a kiss. "You know I don’t play fair,” he whispered into Alec’s lips, kissing him again.
~!~
The next day at the Institute, Alec sat down to scribble out their notes that they’d managed to gather from the night before (despite getting distracted… more than once), and smiled at the sight of Magnus across from him, wearing his glasses as he combed through another book. He could see that Magnus was tense about wearing them out at the Institute, but he was clearly wearing the outfit to torture Alec.
“Hey guys,” Izzy said, sliding into the seat beside Alec. "How’s the research been going?"
"Good,” Alec said, pushing the notes over to her. "Here’s what we were able to find on the demons last night."
Izzy hummed and nodded, studying the notes before turning to look at Magnus, blinking at him before she let out a wolf whistle. "Someone’s rocking the hot librarian look today. Damn, Magnus.”
Magnus let some of the tension fall out of his shoulders and winked at Isabelle over the top of his glasses, well aware that Alec was starting to blush next to her. "After all of this research, I was feeling the aesthetic, what can I say."
Isabelle laughed and winked right back at him. "Well-deserved.”
Magnus relaxed and pushed the frames further up his nose and turned back to the notes on the books. Maybe he could learn to love wearing glasses in this day and age.