The Monday morning when Kent walked into the cluttered office, Chandler as usual gave him a friendly smile, but this time his eyebrows rose fractionally in surprise when he took in the change in the young man's appearance.
Kent wore his usual smart suit, his thick curly hair was a little longer than it had been when Joe had started working here, now just starting to grow so that it fell down around his forehead and eyes, but what drew the older man's gaze was the small, black framed glasses that sat perched on the DC's nose.
Chandler couldn't help the tiny smile that spread over his face at the sight of the frames that seemed to enhance the pale face, rather than hiding it, as glasses did with some people. He admired the way that as Kent sat at his desk he would occasionally look up without moving his head, so that his eyes looked over the small lenses, rather than through them, making him look studious and strangely adorable.
He shook this thought out of his head, turning back to the numerous files spread out in front of him and starting the day's work. However, he found it increasingly irritating that both his mind and eyes kept being drawn back to the desk at the other end of the incident room. Watching with an abundance of interest as the young man did the simplest of things, like when he pushed the wire frames further up his nose with his middle finger, or when he took the glasses off to clean them, these simple actions making Joe pause in his work and smile at the sheer lovability of it.
Earlier during the day McCormack had mentioned something about Kent's glasses and received only an annoyed mumble in reply, something about 'stupid opticians' and their 'need to make everyone look like an idiot'. No one had asked the young man anything about them since! Though Chandler didn't find the glasses nearly as exasperating as the DC, he in fact thought that they were a nice distraction from his work and gave him an extra reason to stare at Kent without feeling guilty. He could just tell himself that he liked the kid's glasses. Of course it wasn't anything to do with the person wearing the glasses, no, nope, not at all!
Over the next week Chandler would occasionally go over to Kent and ask him if he had found anything with their latest case (he did it frequently to everyone else as well so as not to look suspicious) with his only motive being that he could watch the young man shyly look up over the frames at him, or take the them off and gently place the end one of the arms in his mouth thoughtfully. Joe couldn't quite understand or explain why he had developed a love for the glasses and a sudden affection for the young man wearing them, but he wasn't going to protest.
Kent still always complained about having to wear them, saying that they made him look stupid. He would often remove them and continue working until his eyes hurt from the strain, making the young man even more frustrated with himself. This continued until Joe, in a moment of boldness, remarked that they suited him, startling both himself and colleges.
Kent hasn't complained or took the glasses off since!