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

[godheals]

There hadn't been many patients in the infirmary recently, so Raphael was wandering about, looking for the injured. When he passed the forty-eighth floor, he stopped, sensing Enoch..and sensing him buried alive six feet in the ground. It wasn't important right now who had done this or why-what was important was getting Enoch out of there before he ran out of air and died.

Quickly, Raphael ran to the spot, fell to his knees and started quickly digging at the ground with his bare hands, since he didn't have any other tools available and no time to go and grab them.

"Enoch, can you hear me?"

[oathshackledbird]

[The panicked voice catches Diarmuid's attention as he passes by the entry to the Graveyard. He doesn't recognize the green-haired man digging so frantically in the dirt, but he does recognize the name he calls. He hasn't met the mentioned man yet, but several of his friends have mentioned his name.

He quickly crosses to the man's side, almost seeming to appear out of nowhere.]

What is wrong, friend? Why do you dig at an empty grave?

[puppy_lancer]

...Ah?

[Lancer follows Diarmuid into the graveyard. He's thankful that his friend is there. Otherwise, at the sight of the graves of his departed friends, he'd be sure to start smashing shit.]

Those graves are empty, you know.

[He wishes they contained bodies. Even being dead and buried was better than drifting in a wasteland.]

[He walks over to Diarmuid. To the casual observer, he just seems to be standing a little too close to the other man, but for someone who knows him or who is good at reading body language, he's obviously trying to get some physical closeness for comfort's sake. It stops short of contact, but it's still good to know that his friend is right next to him.]

[godheals]

[The archangel paused in his digging when the two people spoke to him, and, oddly enough-for him-he sighed and kept digging quickly as he spoke. If he was aware that it was odd how close Lancer was to Diarmuid, he didn't mention it. Not that he was aware of it.]

Not right now, they are not! A friend of mine, for whatever reason, has been buried alive in this grave. Please, if you could, help me!

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid's eyes widen at the man's words. In a more normal setting, he would have questioned how the man knows, but here in the tower? He knows questioning things like that might cause a delay that could lead to someone's death.

He moves toward the top of the grave, looking to his roommate as he does. Diarmuid's wanted to talk to him for a while--ever since he went missing a few days ago--but this isn't the time.]

Humans will run out of air like that very quickly. We can dig faster than a human, but I don't know if it will be fast enough. What do you think? Do you have anything runic that might help? The most important thing will be getting an air hole down. We can dig out enough to fully free him after we know he has enough air.

[godheals]

[Raphael kept digging as he spoke, going even faster.]

I know they will..I am not human either, but I do understand that they cannot go without air for a long time. I have nothing else that will help, and nor do I know how long he has been down there. I only know that he is alive and that he needs to get out quickly. If either of you can help, please do so!

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer quickly nods.]

I think I might, but...

[Runes of energy? Of air? He's never tried sending just air into such an enclosed space before.]

You know what, I'll just dig for now.

[He manifests Gae Bolg and starts using it like a shovel.]

[godheals]

[At that, Raphael would nod at Lancer as he kept digging.]

Thank you. My friend is six feet under, so we must be quick.

[oathshackledbird]

If he is truly that far under, we should definitely focus our efforts toward the top of the grave to get some air down and then we will take care of the rest after.

[Diarmuid is really just summarizing the information they have out loud while they work. Still, even with his and his roommate's enhanced speed, their process seems just too slow. As he digs, though, a faint and fuzzy memory fills his mind.]

Hey, do you remember during the January experiment when you enhanced your sight to look me over to make sure I wasn't hurt after our 'fight?' Is there a way to apply that to our arms or some such so we can dig faster?

[puppy_lancer]

Great idea.

[Lancer stops digging for a second to sketch some runes on his own arm. He then holds his hand out, gesturing to Diarmuid to let him sketch runes on the other Lancer's arm as well.]

[godheals]

[Raphael watched Lancer as he sketched runes on his arm. The only reason he wasn't asking for them was because he didn't know if they would work on Angels, if they worked at all. However, as he helped out his friend, he kept quickly digging, hoping that Enoch wouldn't die before they got him out.]

[oathshackledbird]

I had hoped that would be the case, but I am no expert when it comes to runes and how they work.

[Diarmuid stops just long enough to allow his roommate to draw the runes before returning to work. The effects of the runes are quickly apparent much to his relief. Their progress still seems slow, but there is definitely progress being made now.

He can only hope they will be fast enough.]

[puppy_lancer]

[As he draws the runes, Lancer gives Diarmuid's hand a little squeeze. There's a part of him that just wants to hold on and not let go. But he's got more important matters than his own emotional fuckery. So he releases Diarmuid's hand and returns to digging, piling the dirt up into a little hill behind him.]

[godheals]

[As Raphael kept digging, he noticed that the two men were going faster. While Angelic strength and speed weren't bad, he decided to try anyway.]

Do you think those runes could work on an Angel?

[warriorscribe]

*Fifteen minutes have passed. Enoch, of course, can't hear them from where he is. Thankfully, so far, there hasn't been too much change for the worse, not that he's consciously aware of - inadvertently, his breathing control has induced a sort of meditative state in him, the blankness helped along by the diminishing oxygen supply in the coffin.*

/slips in pardon me comin' through.

[repeatingsun]

[Why are these guys digging? It's a pretty deep hole, too... Well, she won't ask why. Yet. Instead--]

Anything I can do to help you guys? Why are you digging that hole, anyway?

[...Okay yeah, she's gonna ask why.]

Join us! We can always use more people!~

[godheals]

[Raphael looked up as he dug and replied, never stopping in his work or slowing down. They had to be quick, or he was going to die..]

Enoch has been buried alive in this tomb. If you could, please help us dig, or use something to help us go faster.

Gladly! :D

[repeatingsun]

WHAT.

[She looks genuinely pissed off and oh crap her eyes are glowing. Don't threaten a Meridianian unless you want her going from zero to ragekillhorrorterror in two seconds, guys.

With a grim nod, she sets about joining in the dig, quickly shifting into her planty form in order to use her roots more effectively. With any luck they'll break up the dirt, making this whole operation a little easier for everyone. It's easier to dig if the dirt isn't packed solid, after all. With any more luck, she'll also be able to tell how far away Enoch is once the roots touch the coffin.]

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer had been too focused on digging while trying to answer Raphael's question that he doesn't notice the sudden shifts in the dirt. As a result, a clod of loosened dirt gets dug up too quickly and ends up smacking him in the face. He has to stop digging to spit the dirt out of his mouth.]

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.