Work Text:
Nereid sits on a chair as Schmidt kneels by him, a few items scattered on the small table beside them.
"hey, Schmidt. Y'got anything less scary than those pointy things?" Nereid asks, pointing at the meager medical kit Schmidt pulled out from... Somewhere.
Calling it a kit was generous, really. It contained some gauze, a bunch of needles stored in a cloth roll, and some alcohol that didn't really look like the consumable type. Not that Nereid felt like drinking any right now.
Schmidt looked up at him, the man was currently tending to his new arm, checking if there were any rejection symptoms that might affect Nereid in the long run.
"Hmm? You mean the needles? Why do you ask?" He was still holding on to nereid's arm, squeezing it here and there to check for numbness.
"Ah, well. Jus' curious. I haven't really been to a doctor in a while, y'see" Nereid says in reply.
"Hmm" Schmidt puts a hand to his chin, "well, i do have a few things. Don't know if you remember ever seeing one of these, but-"
Schmidt reaches for his back, under his coat, and pulls out an instrument; coiled up, seemingly whiplike. The instrument is bendy and rubbery looking, though some parts seem more metallic than rubbery. When Schmidt finally held it up, it fell down to form a curvy Y-shape.
"...what's this?" Nereid asked, sitting forward in his chair. He squints at it like a puzzle to solve.
"This," Schmidt announces, standing up and holding the thing by it's tail end "is a stethoscope." He finishes with a subtle smile.
"....wh-"
"take your shirt off."
"???"
Schmidt gestures at Nereid's shirt vaguely while he puts the matching earpieces into his ears and once again holds the tail end of the stethoscope up by a hand.
Nereid obliges, looking up at him in confusion, only for Schmidt to suddenly lean down towards him and press the thing's flat head against his chest.
The flat head is cold, metal- a distinct contrast to the growing warmth and discomfort in Nereid's chest that he can't seem to find a definition to. Perhaps he should ask Jio about this later.
Schmidt listens while Nereid is lost in his thoughts his face preoccupied, then his eyes once again meet Nereid's. "...what's with your heart beating so fast?"
"You..! You surprised me!" Nereid bit back
No one can really blame Nereid, the man was pretty big after all, he towered over him by quite a bit. Though, Nereid himself finds his reaction quite odd, considering he knows just as well as Schmidt how evenly matched they are. Why does he feel so threatened?
This gets a surprised chuckle out of Schmidt, "what, still don't trust me?"
Nereid frowns at this, gently grabbing Schmidt by the arm and pulling his hand away, thinking. "no... It's not really that..."
There's a silence settling between them as they stare at each other, one that definitely isn't helping the odd discomfort in Nereid's chest.
He cuts though the silence a-stutter; "h-hey! How about i try this on you then!"
Schmidt seems snapped out of his one-sided staring contest, clearing his throat and shaking his wrist out of Nereid's grip. "Sure, in a moment. Let me check your arm first."
Nereid stares at him in silence as Schmidt checks the pulse on his new arm. His heart luckily calms down a bit, and there's way less discomfort in the silence.
"Alright, here you go" Schmidt wipes off the earpieces of the stethoscope and hands them over to Nereid, still shirtless (lol)
Nereid puts the earpieces in his ears like Schmidt did, tapping the flat head and wincing when the sound reached his ears. He stares up Schmidt, expectant
"...are you gonna take your shirt off?"
"Oh. Uh, no." Schmidt said abruptly, grabbing the flat head out of Nereid's hand and reaching under his shirt to press it to his chest.
He leans over Nereid once again, staring down at him.
"Hear anything?"
"No, i don't thi- ah, wait. I do"
The consistent beating reached Nereid's ears, a tempo almost consistent to that of his own.
Nereid unconsciously reaches for where Schmidt's hand was holding the flat head, marvelling in the resounding sound of a beating heart reaching his ears.
"You can also try listening to a person's heartbeat by pressing your ear up to their chest or checking their wrist, though i wouldn't advise it." Schmidt adds, "might get you a restraining order if you do it out of nowhere"
"Is that why they invented this?" Nereid mumbles
"Well, it does make the procedure less intrusive, but it also makes you hear the heartbeats better, so you can spot any anomalies or something." Schmidt explained
"You still made me take my shirt off though."
"Well, it's not like you had to. I just thought it'd be funny."
"..."
There was another moment of silence, this time broken up by Schmidt.
"Aaaalright! Back to work i go, make sure not to overwork that new arm of yours" he says, taking the earpieces out of Nereid's ears and pocketing that odd instrument of his somewhere behind his back and picking up his other implements.
He walks out the door, fixing up his shirt as he went.
Nereid stares at his hands, now empty, then at the door Schmidt just left through, a new, different feeling arose in his chest. He thought of Schmidt's steady heartbeat, wondered if it would feel any different if he pressed his ear to Schmidt's chest; his own chest started pooling with that newly familiar sense of warmth and unease. Confusing indeed, he should probably ask Jio about this. Maybe. Maybe not. He stares up at the ceiling.