A/N: I saw this prompt and I HAD to write a malec oneshot, as well as my friend DoctorTheTwitch. If you have the time, you should check her version out! :)

Enjoy.

"Imagine Person A of your OTP painting Person B's fingernails. It's a little lumpy, they've missed a few spots, and they seem to be just as likely to paint the finger as they are the nail. Person B could probably do better themselves, but they'd rather let Person A do it, because the look of concentration on their face is absolutely adorable."

Nailpolish

"Shit."

"What?"

Magnus glowered down at his hand, more specifically his painted nails. On his right index finger was a considerable chip in serpentine green magnetic polish he had laboriously coated on that morning. It wouldn't have been a terrible casualty if it hadn't been the fourth he'd found over the course of the day.

"Long lasting my ass." He held out his hand for Alec to see. "I give and I give, and this is what I get back?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Wasn't that the 1.99 bottle you picked up at the thrift store?"

"I'm flattered you remember." Magnus sighed. "But yes. It was. So much for being frugal."

Alec shook his head. "Of all the things to complain about the day, of course it's your nails. You're just like my sister."

The warlock frowned. It had indeed been a trying day. He had gotten a call to tend to a rash of silver poisoning that had broken out in a local werewolf pack. At first it seemed like a usual run, but then a cluster of lesser demons happened upon the warehouse they had been housed in. He had done his best to protect the wolves and the demons had been slain, but not without an injury of one of the younger pups. An injury Magnus charged for his healing services for. This hadn't gone over well with a certain wolf, who decided the best way to react was to catch Magnus off guard and kick him in the kneecap. Nothing broke and the wolf was quickly brought to order, but it didn't stop the injury from smarting a bit.

All he had to say was bless portals, because he certainly wasn't up to walking all the way back to Brooklyn. "Injuries heal soon enough, Alec. Chipped nails wound the ego for years. Decades, even."

"Whatever you say, dear." Alec sighed.

"Did you just call me dear?"

The shadowhunter smirked. "Maybe."

Magnus scooted off the bed, leaning toward his lover. "Does this mean 'sweet pea' is back in the running?"

"Yes. No." Alec took a step back, flustered. "What are you doing?"

He was going to say 'getting up' but he was muted by the bolt of pain that shot up his leg when he put weight on it. Scooting back onto the bed, he pouted. "Loving you."

"Really?"

"Okay I might have also had an ulterior motive of getting my polish box from the bathroom." Magnus admitted.

"Couldn't you just snap that up?" Alec asked, amused.

Magnus gasped with mock scandal. "Precious cargo like that? Never!"

With another eyeroll Alec got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. Not to long after he returned with Magnus's 'precious cargo'. The warlock reached for it, but Alec held it out of his reach. "Ah, ah, ah. Take your shoes off and lay down. I don't trust you with cosmetics in the state you're in."

It took Magnus a moment to process what his boyfriend had said. "Hold on. Are you offering to paint my nails for me?"

An anxious look passed over Alec's face. "Is that a problem?"

"Heavens no!" Magnus assured, kicking his shoes off (wincing a bit along the way) before leaning against the headboard. "You simply don't strike me as a thirteen year old mundane girl."

Alec lobbed a pillow at Magnus, cheeks flushed. "Shut up."

"Aye, aye." He obliged with a grin.

With another eye roll Alec popped the box open. "What colors?"

"Not the cheap shit I was wearing." Magnus shrugged. "Other than that, I couldn't care less, darling."

Brow thoughtfully furrowed, Alec hesitantly fished a bottle out. Magnus chuckled at the choice, eliciting a reaction out of Alec that only made him laugh outright. "What?"

"Nothing." Magnus struggled to calm down. "Carney yellow is a magnificent color. Go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

With that, Alec opened the bottle and began his work on the left foot. Magnus watched, and couldn't help but smile as Alec made his steady way nail after nail. He couldn't see details, but by the cool sensation that'd occasionally dribble down his toes he knew Alec wasn't exactly coloring within the lines. But Magnus kept quiet. He adored when Alec was like this—so focused on the task at hand a centaur could barrel into the room and he wouldn't notice, not until the job was done. He loved the way that his nose scrunched up whenever he made a mistake or the small little smirk that would crop up when he was doing something well.

Granted, with this task Alec's nose was in an almost permanent scrunched state, black hair curtained over his determined blue eyes. Magnus could watch for hours and never be bored.

Unfortunately he didn't have hours worth of nails to paint, and before he knew it Alec had scooted up next to him and now was clumsily layering polish on his fingernails. Like with the toenails, the paint didn't always land on the nails, nor did it dry evenly. Clumps formed at random places while others were so thin you could see the previous green coat through, it was so thin.

As Alec finished, Magnus smiled. "We should do this more often."

Alec let out a breathy laugh. "What, me serving you hand and foot?"

"That too." Magnus considered before holding his nails up to the light. "But honestly, we should paint eachother's nails more often. You're a natural, hon."

"I did a horrible job and you know it."

Magnus leaned against Alec. "Worse than a blind mermaid."

Alec laughed as he set the polish onto the bedside table. "Then why didn't you stop me?"

"Oh, Alec… you were just so determined. The way your face scrunched up, I just wanted to, to—"

"Kiss it?" He finished, eyes glinting as he met Magnus's gaze.

"Right from my lips." The warlock sighed, before capturing Alec in a kiss.