Ed finds Stede's spectacles forgotten on top of the book they are currently reading, it's one of the few books Stede managed to find during a raid and that they took with them after leaving the Revenge. He picks the spectacles, gingerly, cringing at how dirty the round glasses are, knowing too damn well those are his fingertips on the smooth surface, left there in his haste to get them off and away from Stede's face, perched on his lap, the night before.
He cleans them thoroughly until every smudge is gone, he is going to put them back where he first found them but he hears Stede's familiar footsteps entering the room behind him, so he turns around and crosses the distance between them, putting the spectacles on for Stede.
" Better?" Stede is watching him like he has never seen him before, his eyes traveling across his face, as if he were committing every detail to memory.
He nods, " thank you, my heart."
Stede loses his spectacles four months into their new life. They search for them for hours, admitting their defeat when the Sun sets and their candles aren't enough to light every nook and cranny of their home.
Stede definitely doesn't pout about it, even after Ed promises him he will find them or get new ones for Stede, even if he has no idea where he would be able to get them. He does stop the pouting once Ed offers reading to him for a change before bed, his eyes alight as he nods, rushing to hand Ed the book they are reading and dismissing Ed's warning about his inability to do the voices like he does them.
The next day, while they work in different parts of their house, crossing paths from time to time and stopping the other to share brief kisses, something shiny catches Ed's eye. He crouches down next to the shelves he built for Stede's books and there they are, under one of them, glinting with a ray of sunshine, Stede's spectacles. He grins, picking them up and dusting them off, he doesn't waste a second,
"Hey Stede!" he calls out as soon as he spots him, working outside in their slowly growing garden. Stede waves at him and Ed makes his way to where he is kneeling on the ground, bending down to put spectacles on for Stede. He gets a bright smile back, hazel eyes adoringly looking up at him, taking him in, seeing him in a way no one has ever seen him before.
Stede has just put the spectacles on when one of the round lenses falls from the frame, landing right on Ed's forehead since he is laying with his head resting comfortably on Stede's lap. They both burst out laughing after a beat of silence, Stede quickly picks up the lens, his laughter dying as he focuses on trying to get the lens back in the frame. Ed watches him, taking in his frankly adorable determined expression, waiting for him to put the spectacles on again. They make him look so handsome. Ed might be biased, since he thinks Stede always looks good, even if Stede himself stubbornly refuses to believe it.
A small, triumphal, " aha!" brings him back to the moment, and he stops Stede before he can put the spectacles on again, taking them from Stede to clean them and put them on for Stede himself.
" Looking good." He winks delighted by the pink blush that appears on Stede's cheeks.
Stede bends down to kiss the tip of his nose, locking eyes with him for what feels like an eternity but isn't more than a few breaths " thank you, my heart."
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