Slacker

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Enoch and- ...well okay, mostly only people who can sense him since he's six feet underground. Other people can come to try to help dig as well. Because of the situation this is essentially a mingle log unless he can be rescued alive. I'll be providing direction of course. Please try to keep it to one thread if you can?
Setting: Floor 48; Graveyard, backdated to the 7th
Format: Doesn't matter
Summary: The graveyard job was too painful to make himself attend, even more so when it's feasible that this "day to day maintenance" is now for Ruana. He is paying the price for that.
Warnings: Someone is buried alive.

Dirt trickled onto him as he gave the lid of the coffin a hard punch, one that would have broken his knuckles if not for a stage of his armor shattering in their place. The crack that had appeared in the top had given him some hope, but after several more punches to no avail, Enoch let his arm rest over his stomach as he stared up at the lid. The crack he'd managed to make was not visible in the darkness, but one he'd been able to feel as it was created.

He was already feeling lightheaded; the exertion of trying to punch his way out coupled with the initial panic hadn't done him any favors. He tried to control his breathing, imagining a peaceful beach, breathing shallowly to the rhythm of imaginary waves. He knew his only hope was for one of the Archangels to look for him here where he worked and sense him buried underground, or for one of fellow gravekeeper John's Pokemon to smell him, or...basically for some superhuman sense to find him. Even knowing what would happen when this body failed him, death tended to be unpleasant, and being trapped in his bed, paralyzed, wasn't a good thing either.

At least he could make a mental note to himself that if he died, he could ask Jason in person to get him out of this mess instead of waiting on his request form. Surely he'd agree it was work he need not put in to let him continue to attempt to work here...

****

Those who can sense living beings will sense someone six feet underground should they venture to the graveyard. If they can sense vital signs, these are starting to fade. Enoch's superhuman constitution is seeing to him staying awake and alive a bit longer than a normal human, but not by much. He has about forty-five minutes before he passes out, and ten minutes before he stops breathing. It takes two able-bodied men four hours to dig a hole six feet deep, without assistance from the supernatural. Phasing and teleporting powers are severely dampened, but not disabled.

Anyone up to the challenge?

Comments

Yay!~

[godheals]

[Rapahel, thankfully, didn't flinch when her eyes were glowing and kept digging. Considering that she didn't feel like a demon and that her response was due to Enoch's situation, she was probably mad about whoever had stuck Enoch in this situation.

As she worked and helped, he nodded. He already knew how far down the coffin was, but he didn't know that it was part of her motives.]

Thank you. I do appreciate this.

[..And when he heard Lancer get smacked with something, he looked at the man, concerned, but not stopping in his work.]

Are you alright?

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid is startled by the woman's sudden change, but when she starts breaking up the dirt so they can dig faster, he can't help but smile. He notices his roommate's misfortune out of the corner of his eye. While he doesn't stop digging and moving dirt himself, he does call out to him.]

Are you all right?

[The hole is starting to get pretty deep now and to continue digging effectively someone is probably going to have to go down in it.]

Someone is going to have to get down in there to keep working. Maybe two someone's if we can fit...

[godheals]

[At that, Raphael nodded and got down into the hole to continue digging.]

I shall go in then and keep working at it.

[warriorscribe]

*Solas's roots will hit the coffin about four feet down. They've been making good time.*

[puppy_lancer]

Fine, fine.

[He picks up Gae Bolg and digs again. He'll jump down into the hole if it gets big enough for him to fit.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid nods, moving to crouch near where Rapheal is digging, working to widen the hole, but at the same time, staying nearby so that he can help the man if he needs it.]

Pass me the dirt if you need to. Just focus on going down and we will work on clearing.

[He turns to the woman next to them.]

Can you focus on breaking up the dirt so he can dig down faster in that spot?

[Finally, he looks toward his roommate, smiling slightly to try and reassure him.]

Work over here with me. If we slope this down some we can widen a enough to get another person in here and give him some space to kick dirt back for us to remove while he keeps going down.

[godheals]

[Raphael nodded as Diarmuid worked to widen the hole and ordered everyone about. At least he did it politely.]

Thank you. I will do so.

[Raphael, true to his work, just kept on digging as fast as he could, pushing the dirt up if it got in the awy.

Hang on, Enoch..]

is it okay to hop in?

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth appears in the graveyard, curious as ever. he recognizes Diarmuid and Lancer, if not the others. He makes his way over to where the diggers are working with obvious determination and intent.

Something important is obviously going on.]

May I help?

[He's already moving forward to do just that. He is ready to dig, if need be.]

well, I'm fine with it

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer nods and hurries to follow Diarmuid's instructions. He notices Sephiroth out of the corner of his eye.]

Yeah, we'd be glad to have your help, kid.

[He gives Raphael a quick glance.]

This guys' friend got himself buried alive.

all right!

[pinnaculum]

[That seems like a grave problem indeed (pun unintentional), and Sephiroth nods seriously, not wasting time on further conversation.

He's smaller than the others, so he's able to fit in the widening hole. He jumps in and starts digging without further delay. He may be small, but he's strong and quick.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid nods, glad to see Sephiroth. He is actually thinking about asking him to get into the hole because of his size when he gets in himself.]

Thank you, Sephiroth. Pass me whatever you need to keep the hole clear. How far down do you think we are everyone?

[godheals]

[Raphael looked at Sephiroth, smiled and nodded, never stopping in his work.]

Thank you. This is rather kind of you.

[He then turned to Diarmuid.]

We have four feet left to go!

[warriorscribe]

*It has been twenty minutes. The scraping of Solas's roots on the coffin's lid registers in the deathly quiet - the wood's long since done settling. Enoch opens his eyes, raising a hand to the lid. He doesn't speak. If someone or something is there - maybe it's a burrowing monster, for all he knows...

...He'll just hit the lid weakly with his palm. Just in case. Solas might feel the vibrations.*

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid nods. He actually thinks they might be farther down than that, but before he can say something his enhanced hearing catches what seems to be a very very faint sound. So faint, he almost thinks he's imagining it.]

Did anyone hear that?

[He turns to the woman standing not far from him.]

Did your...roots...feel anything just then? Do you think he can hear us? Quickly! Someone make a loud noise. Perhaps, you could yell for him again?

[He reaches down to lightly touch Raphael's shoulder.]

He is your friend after all. Your voice may comfort him.

[godheals]

[Raphael didn't look up from his digging or slow down, but he did nod at Diarmuid's hand on his shoulder.]

I do not doubt you. If you say you heard my friend, then you must have heard him. I am not sure if he heard my voice or our scrapings, and I am not sure what comfort I may be. But I shall try.

[And then, once again, Raphael called out to Enoch. He wasn't sure if his friend could hear him, but he was still alive, so there was a chance.]

Enoch, if you can hear me, bang on your coffin three more times!

[repeatingsun]

I heard - felt - yes, he's still alive there. I just need to make sure he stays that way.

[It's easy enough to maneuver one of the tendrils in and make it take over part of the inside, sprouting leaves and flowers - a very good amount of them too. They're funny-lookin', yeah, but not too weird - more importantly, they're doing what plants do.

Inhale CO2. Exhale oxygen. It's a simple thing.]

Okay, I'm working on getting the carbon dioxide levels down in there. If nothing else, it'll at least provide company, right?

[puppy_lancer]

...Well, that takes care of that problem.

[Lancer heaves a sigh in relief and then returns to his digging.]

[warriorscribe]

*Well, they're lacking sunlight, but they'll live for a little while.

Enoch can't see the weird plants, but when he feels something brush against his palm, he jerks it back. When nothing else seems to happen, he reaches up again, fingering the leaves to find out what they are.

Plants...?

He can hear Raphael's voice, but muffled and indistinct through all the dirt. He doesn't realize the plants are keeping him alive, but he does know that someone's on their way to rescue him. That much is a relief...

But he doesn't have any idea what these plants are for, and, being unable to see them, he can't see the inherent strangeness that would mark them as Sola's.*

[godheals]

[Raphael, having no idea that Enoch could hear him and not hearing any knocks back, assumed that his friend couldn't hear him down there. But..he was still alive, and that was all that mattered at this point. That and getting him out. He nodded and smiled at Sola as he dug, not stopping or slowing down.]

Thank you. Hopefully that shall help keep him alive until we can get him out.

[oathshackledbird]

[Relief enters Diarmuid's eyes, but he shakes his head unwilling to accept such an easy solution.]

Yes, but while we may have more time, that also means more time for things to go wrong or the administrators to interfere. Lets stay focused until he is safely above ground.

[After all, he can completely see the administrators letting them think they have him safe only to snatch their victory away at the very last minute and that would be heartbreaking.]

[repeatingsun]

[And Sola can always make more if they run down. She's still above ground, after all - it may be the graveyard, it may be artificial light for all she knows but it's light and that's enough.]

Right. Okay, he's not that far off, by the way- I'll keep working at the soil.

[And so she does. The plants, upon being touched, make an odd "mrr?" noise. Kind of like sleepy critters who are wondering what that silly human is doing.

Well, if that wasn't proof enough...]

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer has to raise an eyebrow at the sight of the purring plants.]

Find something interesting?

[repeatingsun]

Ah - Enoch just touched them. They're wondering why. Doesn't really make sense to them, after all, it isn't like they're pups or rabbits or anything like that.

[Mrrrrrrrrr, both inside and outside the coffin. Mrr mrr.]

[puppy_lancer]

[He snickers.]

Looks like he's alive and kicking down there. Though...I guess his friend might be ready to give him an earful when he finally comes out.

[oathshackledbird]

Getting out first. Earful later, yes?

[Maybe it's just easier for Diarmuid to stay focused because he doesn't know Enoch or maybe it's just kickback from being a leader before. Whatever it is, while he's glad to hear things are going so well and they are getting so close, he's not going to relax until the man is safe.]

You said that we were getting close. I think we are about 4 feet down now leaving about 2 to go. Does that seem about right?