Stuck in an Elevator [IC]

Argal

This was literally supposed to be a casual trip. Mercedes left the house, not even 15 minutes ago to go get some potato's for her pie. Now her bag was full of potato's, her shoe was broken, and she probably left the oven on so chances were that her house was burnt to crisp by the time she got back. Not to mention the elevator. Which was stuck.

Mercedes had walked into the elevator, struggling to put her wallet back into her knapsack while keeping the potato's from rolling out of her shopping bag. There were two people inside the elevator already. The music was unexpected. Pop music, Katy Perry. It made Mercedes want to laugh or sing along, but there were people so she dutifully refrained. The next level down, both people got off and one person got on. Mercedes looked up at their face, looked at the button they were pressing, and then quickly back at their face. 

She totally knew this person. Well, maybe not personally, but she'd definitely seen them. Seen them as in, on a park bench, late at night. Mercedes mentally noted to not call the situation awkward again. Cus that would be awkward. But Katy Perry already seemed to be doing the job for her. Seriously, who was in charge of the elevator's music, because "California girls" was so not it. She ended up quietly humming along though, looking down at her wrist, half pretending to be a cliche middle age man in an elevator (for some reason), and half wishing she actually had a watch to see the time. It went down about a floor and suddenly there was a loud clunk!, a screech which sounded totally not normal, and came to a halt.

Mercedes tried to push the open button. Again. And again. And soon she was jabbing her finger against every button on the damn thing but nothing was moving the elevator. Once she'd pressed all the button numerous times she gave up and looked towards the other person, who looked totally and completely panicked. Mercedes didnt feel panicked at all, and was that weird? Probably. Not that it was an issue at the moment when they were fucking. Stuck. In an elevator.

"We'll be fine. I think" She mumbled to the person, hoping they could hear. "Elevators are-" She started, trying to think of something comforting to say, but she wasn't smart with anything mechanical so her sentence ended with "cool." And it made her cringe so hard she wanted to kick herself in the head. Stupid Katy Perry was still all "-you could travel the woOoorld, but nothing comes close to the gOlden coast" and she was officially going to lose her mind.

"I mean, its probably just a maintenance problem right?" (obviously, idiot) "Im positive we'll be out of here in like, 4 minutes." She said, trying to look confident. She looked down at her wrist again, this time actually forgetting she had no wristwatch. It felt like hours since she bought those potato's and her house was a goner and she really needed new shoes. The person next to her looked extremely distressed, practically vibrating. And Mercedes was stupid enough to blurt out "My name is Mercedes, by the way. Just in case."

Maybe she could try prying the door open. 

octoforlife

“I’m only going to be gone for a few minutes, Pip told his friends. “I’ll be back soon” he said.

Now he was stuck in the elevator.

It all started when he saw a cute plush animal in the window of one the shops in the mall. A stuffed pink raccoon, wearing a strawberry hat. He, his boyfriend and their friends were at the mall on a shopping spree and were already looking for the nearest KFC or McDonalds, so Pip didn’t bother to tell them he wanted to go into the shop. It wasn’t until two hours later that he remembered and told his friends he was going to go buy something. To his surprise, the toy was still there and he entered the elevator with his prized stuffed raccoon. He though it would look embarassing, seeing someone lugging around a huge pink raccoon. But there was only one other person in the elevator, and they didn’t seem too focused on him, so he shrugged the thought off.

Suddenly, the elevator clanked and stopped, and Pip almost fell to the floor in shock. The other person in the elevator with him seemed surprised too. “I-Is the elevator broken!?” he gasped in shock, holding onto his raccoon for life. The girl didn’t reply, instead pressing on the open button in a panic. “H-Hey! Stop!” Pip yelled at her. “You might break it!”. “Pretty sure the elevator’s broken,” she replied. After a few seconds of jamming the button, she sighed and gave up, and Pip slumped down to the floor in a panic. Were his friends worried about him? Did they notice he was gone? God, Elliot was probably wondering where he was.... He just sat there on the floor, leaning against the cold metal wall, clutching the stuffed animal. He trusted that staff were gonna come save them. It wouldn’t take them that long to get out, right?

     Now wasn't this just peachy keen.

     Terry sighed through his nose as he blearily stared at the digital 7 blinking at the top of the elevator's panel, signifying that something was wrong (if the lights turning off didn't already). The only other occupant was some guy that looked fresh out of college, youthful appearance-wise and in that... pep... in his step.

     Terry couldn't help but glower in his direction. No need for flashlights around with all the damn light radiating off this kid. Seriously, he had a radiant smile that only came from people that donated most of their savings to charity. How could he compete with that? It was like night and day. The teacher sighed. Hang in there, it shouldn't take too long to get this thing up and running. In the meantime, he pulled out his phone to look at some memes.

     Looking at his third meme, Terry felt something off. He briefly glanced at his elevator neighbor, only to do a double-take. That guy seemed real nervous all of a sudden, sticking to the corner and muttering something about his friends. Time seemed to slow down for Terry at that instance. Help the guy and do a good deed, or keep to himself and enjoy some more memes. Despite how tired he was, he knew the answer. Regretfully.
     Rolling his eyes and pocketing his phone, he got closer. "We'll be fine," he assured. "These things stop all the time, but they're not going to drop us or pull anything you see on Final Destination. Come on, it's only been ten minutes. Give it maybe twenty more and we'll be out. I'll turn on my hotspot if you want to message your friends or family, or something."

At the moment, Yska was paying little attention to the woman in the elevator, though initially he'd given her a curious once-over. There was something ragged and tired about the stranger, and he kept a polite distance, giving little more than a friendly nod of acknowledgement at their single instance of eye contact. He wasn't one to pry into the business of strangers, even casually, and something about J looked resistant to prying. He was leaning casually against the wall when, with a dull thunk, the elevator suddenly stopped its descent. Uncertain whether what was happening was really happening, he stared at the digital display above the doors for a moment, willing it to change and for movement to start once more. However, it didn't appear that would be the case, at least not in the immediate future. There they were, two quiet strangers stuck in a little metal box.

The circumstances weren't pleasant, sure, but Yska was fairly unflappable. The woman in the elevator, however, was not. She was trying to conceal her discomfort, but he was good enough at reading people, and besides that her tension was palpable. With concern, he broached the topic after a short pause to consider his options, hoping that some levity might help.

"... Well, as if today couldn't get any worse...?" He commented, his voice more gentle and worried than jovial, and he studied J's reaction before turning to deal with the problem at hand. Yska eyed the writing beneath the elevator buttons, next to a dull little red bulb: 'If flashing, help is on the way.'

"I suppose we'd best get this thing flashing, hmm?" With that, he daintily pressed a thumb into the red emergency button, the light below beginning to fluoresce crimson after a brief delay. He turned back to the woman, who stood still at the opposite end, gripping the elevator rail. Claustrophobia, he presumed. Yska didn't want to mess with her too much- perhaps she was the sort that didn't want to be bothered during a bout of anxiety- but it didn't hurt to gently test the waters.

"It shouldn't be too long. At least, I hope not. Did you want to talk, or something? Or... watch something silly on YouTube, something like that?" He smiled warmly, fishing his phone out of his pocket as a suggestion. "Or I can leave you alone and we can stand here in silence until someone comes to save the day, I don't mind either way."

V Initially, Yska was not sure what to make of this stranger. He could feel one little something for certain: this wasn't a human. And he wasn't sure he liked whatever it was. Regardless, he was happy to make pleasant small-talk to keep the peace, unsure whether Ren was of the sort that could see through his ruse. Little did he know how much the Director could really see. Of course, being recognized was its own flattery, and it did win the elegant blonde some points of favor- aside from his beauty, a trait which won favor with Yska all too easily. He did love being recognized for his accomplishments. He loved to be known, to not only fit into human society but to stand out among its ranks. Maybe Ren was familiar enough with figure skating to be genuinely aware of his existence. Or perhaps it was just part of his abilities, which Yska would soon be all too aware of.

As the elevator stopped according to Ren's 'convenient' prediction, Yska looked rather like a cornered animal. His whole body was tense, so unlike his typical countenance that he almost seemed to be another person entirely. Ordinarily, something like a simple stalled elevator wouldn't rattle him. It was his company that frightened him. When was the last time he'd felt afraid of anything? He didn't know. But this time, trapped here with this stranger, he was suddenly afraid.

He turned hesitantly toward Ren as he approached, fighting the urge to step back and press himself against the wall, shrinking as far as he could away from the source of the danger. It would do no good here, and he wasn't the type to show weakness, even if he felt it. A switch flipped; something changed fundamentally about Yska's demeanor. The effortless charisma was gone, the ever-present smile, the brightness he tried to carry with him. Only an iciness remained, like a defensive wall that Ren could nevertheless see right through. Maybe he was imagining it, but he felt some kind of squirming in his mind, as if something was there that should not be. An intruder. Perhaps that was just what it meant to look into Ren's eyes, those celestial irises now punctuated by luminous white rings.

What did he intend to do with Carmen? It was quite the question. What were his plans? He had a little dream. A fantasy. Maybe, whatever Carmen was, he was something pliable that could be easily manipulated. Yska's favorite. He could have him as a very pretty toy, to do whatever Yska needed from him- he could sense well enough that Carmen was of a very powerful sort, though he hadn't yet worked out specifics. He would be a nice ally to have around, to say the least. And maybe, if things went well enough, he could siphon whatever life force Carmen had like a tick gorging itself on blood, never having to worry about running out. It was just a fantasy- he wasn't sure if it would work. There were many moving parts; many questions left unanswered. But he'd been tossing the idea around in his mind, embellishing it further as the days went by. It was so rare to find a non-human that he liked, let alone one that didn't seem repulsed by him, having the ability to sense what was behind the curtain. Such a rare occasion demanded such daydreaming, and Yska was all too willing to indulge.

"I like him. What more is there to say?" Yska said flatly, giving Ren a cold stare- what point was there in explaining anything, truthful or otherwise, when this entity could merely pluck the thoughts from his mind as he wished? Best not to work harder than he had to.

Holding a bag filled with cleaning supplies, Zepar stood in the elevator, softly humming some catchy pop song he’d happened to hear during his trip for the supplies, his thoughts somewhere far far away.

Maybe he should wear a maid outfit next time he goes to clean his friend’s place? His reaction would definitely be fun to watch…Or not. On the second thought, such an idea sounded kinda gay, and Zepar wasn’t gay! No, of course he didn’t have anything against gay people but-

His thoughts, filled with internalized homophobia and maid dresses, were suddenly interrupted as he finally noticed how quiet and dark(he could see just fine in the dark but still!) everything had suddenly become. Did the elevator got stuck? What terrible timing!

Zepar looked around, thinking about what to do next, and that’s when he finally noticed him. The most beautiful human he’d ever seen, and the demon had seen loots of beautiful people almost on daily basis, them being his usual clientele and stuff. No, wait. That man wasn’t a human at all! Just what the hell was that creature he was oh so lucky to get stuck with? Some kinda monster, perhaps? And judging by that really uneasy feeling Zepar had been having since looking at the man in front of him, he was faaaaar older and more powerful than he looked. And wait! Could it be…?

“Aw hell nah!” Zepar whined looking Ren straight in the eyes for a second then quickly averting his gaze “Don’t tell me you are one of those things! Who can hear others’ thoughts and all that crap!”

The demon let out a shaky sight and continued ‘Just so you know, I-I’m totally not homophobic! So don’t even dare to judge m-me, yeah!”

Oh way too go Zepar, that’s exactly what you say when you meet an eldritch creature who is probably older than the universe itself! That’s exactly what Isaac always nagged him about; not being able to read the room! He should be thinking of ways of getting out alive not-wait, come to think of it, how was Isaac doing? Isaac was just so great actually, always so composed and calm and perfect and waitwaitwaitwait that was getting too dangerous! That mind reading thing  was still there, after all! And Zepar really didn’t want Ren to read him like an open book

“I wanna get out…” Zepar whined again as he hid his burning face in his palms and slid down on the elevator floor. Dealing with eldritch creatures was just the worst!

(just one glance at ren and zepar has already started regretting every single life choice which led to that moment lol)

That smell. Salvador stood in the far back of the elevator, his back pressed against the wall, his hand resting around his nose. The cigarette smell Heit was radiating made the entire situation even less bearable. Not that Salvador would say anything about it, or anything at all, as the metal glimpse of the weapons the other was carrying was enough to make him shut up.
They had been stuck in this hell for 14 minutes and 52 seconds. Salvador had not opened his mouth. Allowing himself to be overflow with silence, fear and the smoker's smell. Until he couldn't take it any more. Until it broke him. "We are going to die? Aren't we?" he asked the stranger. Salvador looked up at him. Into those maroon eyes. "Or are we already dead. This is purgatory," he said. Salvador had heard of purgatory in some Coast-retellings of the Void faith. It wasn't common in the Kretschwick believe-system, still, he'd imagine purgatory to look like this. Drowning in an endless sea, or elevator apparently, with no ability to move.  Salvador's eyes scanned the unlit buttons of the place. He'd always hated elevators. The cramped space always made him feel small, trapped and on fearful. His throat was dry. So dry. He couldn't even breathe right. Every breath of air he took, was soaked with tobacco. Salvador slid down, his back still against the wall, and set down on the elevator floor. He wrapped his arms around his legs and sat there in silence. Another minute ticked by.
 
"Can you maybe tell me a story? Not about your guns," he said. Salvador's eyes were glued to the elevator's door. His breath unsteady. With shaking hands, he rubbed his legs, in an attempt to comfort himself. "Tell me where are you from? And why are you cursed?" He finally looked up at Heit. Hearing the other's tragic interloping with the Unknown, would maybe help him forget his own. 

--

For NP: Sal is slightly catastrophic and thus will be on edge (read: be very silent and have shaking breathing). He will full on panic if the lights went out as well 😿, it is his tragic backstory. 

Please N'arfi carry Sal out of this hell like this

(He will indeed carry Sal like this)

He had no idea how long they had been waiting for someone to come help them get out of the elevator. N’arfi’s concept of time… barely existed and he was starting to get very impatient as he paced back and forth. The viera had places to be, he always did.

“Thal’s ass, every single time I use an elevator, it breaks down.. The twelve must really have it out for me….” he mumbled with a slightly irritated tone, tapping his foot rapidly. N’arfi looked down at the shorter man sat on the floor, hugging his legs and breathing sharply. “Is aught amiss?” His voice was softer, calmer as he kneeled down in front of Salvador. This is when he managed to put two and two together, realising that the small elevator space was freaking him out. “Ohh..” The viera removed the heavy weapon from his back, put it on the floor and sat down on the floor next to the man. “I’m aware that this isn’t the most ideal situation but.. mayhaps a conversation could take your mind elsewhere? I’m N’arfi, you?” Had the viera been alone in the elevator, he would have broken himself out already but judging by how Salvador was practically drowning in anxiety, forcing the door open to reveal the elevator hatch would probably make it worse.

—————————

Np: N’arfi is very impatient so if your character were to agree, he’d totally pry the elevator door open to escape. 

(Since Audrey has claustrophobia, I'll base the reaction of yours a little bit like your post since she seems to be the one to sorta stop the other, but like, if you feel like she'd react differently you can lemme know, if you're bothered by it you can also lemme know and I'll erase that part)

Audrey normally did not go in elevators, she took the stair way. But it seemed that today, she had to go to the highest level and in normal terms, she was crazy enough to STILL take the stairway, nonetheless. But it seemed like this once, she had arrived late and going all up would take even longer. She waited nervously before hearing the sudden ding that an elevator had opened up, and immediately went in, not a word was uttered, she just pressed on the last number to get to the top level. She tried to get the door to close to be done with it, pressing on the close door button and all of a sudden, she didn't exactly hear someone approaching, but the tingling of a bell before a sudden hand grabbed the closing door to prevent it from closing and entered, silent as ever. That person looked absolutely terrifying to a woman who was in a tight space, that didn't like tight spaces, and that was doing her best to keep calm. Misses Bells simply pressed on a button and... Though she didn't go to the last floor like her, she was pretty close... That meant she'd be in the same elevator for a while?

And that was when anxiety settled in.

She could just press on the next floor and say she had to suddenly pee in emergency? That wouldn't be insulting? But then, would this lady see that she was scaring her? She didn't truly know if she was good or not, she didn't want to insult her with her over exagerration. She quickly turned her eyes to look at her from the side, FUCK, WHY IS SHE SO TALL! And as she looked at her, her name seemed to appear in her mind... Dame Clochette. (not sure if it's a literal translation, but bells in french is either cloche for the big ones or clochette for the smaller ones. Dame would be the equivalent of lady.) Though she was quite fluent in english, her main language was french, the first language she learned to speak was french, so most of the time she would think in french. But whenever she'd think in english, instead, it was Miss Bells that popped in her mind. (In this part I wasn't sure if it worked like that, but I liked to think it depends in what language they are thinking if they are multilingual.)

Finally deciding, after a few levels, that she was going to get out to at least breathe a little bit, she heard a sudden thud and the elevator stopped...Moving...Oh no... Oh fuck... Oh shit, why! Why did it stop moving? What was going on? She anxiously placed her hand on her chest, it was almost as if she stopped breathing as she desperately looked up at the level numbers that didn't change, her back against the elevator wall and suddenly, her breathing became faster and faster "Oh no... Oh non... Non non non... Pourquoi... Pourquoi..." Again, she knew english, but in moments like this, it was french that came first "Criss de tabarnak d'esti de-" and here started the french canadian cusses, they weren't pretty words. She started pressing on buttons, but nothing happened and it was then that Lady Bell suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head "No no, please no!" she muttered, about to hammer the buttons with her fist only to be stopped and gently pushed behind, it was when the wings came out that she fell down and started screaming. In normal terms, she wouldn't panick to this point, she'd be curious. But she was in a moment where she already felt vulnerable, and she wasn't in the best state to stay calm. So all of a sudden, she'd just.. Panick. Hold her head between her hand and try to stay calm as best as she could. She didn't like elevators and regretted not taking the stairs with the risk of getting late.

For once she finally took the chance, seemed like a terrible timing for her. It would've been fine if the elevator wasn't stuck.

v AHDDISJFNRJXFS OMFG MUNG BEAN IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, I SWEAR! CAN I ADOPT HIM!

I... I will do a follow up tomorrow when I have access to my pc because my phone is a little bitch for some reasons.

Small snores erupted from the elevator as it opened. Little Mung Bean had decided that the music was the perfect lullaby to help him sleep. A small gasp woke him up. A carrot haired woman was crouching near him and gawking as the doors closed. He lazily blinked his eyes and gave a big yawn. The woman 'awed' at him. He stretched his long body and jumped when there was a sudden clang. The elevator jingles and stopped. His giant eyes dialted more, his tiny tongue poking out of his mouth. The woman panicked. He looked at you then to the woman. What do you expect him to do? Obviously something smart, right?

Mung Bean's body rolled into the woman's lap. He sat and stared at her as she panicked. He put a tiny paw on her face to meet her eyes. Yes. Stare into his eyes. He let out loud purrs, the vibrations echoing in the elevator. He slowly pulled his tongue back in his mouth, his massive voids one would call eyes attempting to bring peace to woman before him. Suddenly the music started again. He then rolled away from the woman and back into his corner. The little burnt bread loaf continuing his nap.

-

PicklePantry

The eyes of the burnt loaf narrowed at the toy. The quick movements of the feathers made Mung Bean wriggle his tiny tush I excitment. He rolled on his back, attempting to reach the feathers with all four paws as his weaponry. As the feathers tickled his nose he sneezed and tooted. Poor Mung Bean was embarrassed. His tiny toots caused him to curl up in shame. Mung Bean hung his head low. Tiny paws splayed out in misery.

^ NOOOOOOOO

     The doors to the elevator opened. The person waiting to step inside took one step forward, looked up from his phone, and winced at the sight of Zack. Just Zack. Being alone with someone scary-looking as him? No, thank you. So, with an awkward semi-apologetic smile, he stepped back out and decided to wait for another elevator.

     Zack grunted. He was used to people avoiding him. These scars, his arm, he looked like he belonged to a gang, he didn't blame them for avoiding him.
     The elevator stopped again and opened, but he didn't see anyone this round. A slow blink, then he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Peering over, he inhaled sharply at the sight of a ball of void tucked at the corner, staring back at him with the biggest eyes he'd ever seen. A cat. A round, fluffy, friendly, curious cat. They were locked in silent eye-contact for what seemed like forever-- after the doors closed, as it climbed higher, when it stopped suddenly. Zack didn't seem to care about any of that. All he cared about was this creature down here.

     Glancing around to see if anyone else was here, Zack crouched down to be better eye level with Mung Bean. He reached into his vest and pulled out a feathery cat toy, dangling it around to see if it would attract him. What an incredible day this was.

"Over here, buddy. Into the elevator, c'mere." Niko beckoned his beloved Samoyed over, to which the dog hesitantly followed after him. He pointed his finger out to press the button on the dashboard that directed the elevator where he wanted to go, and easily settled in, not paying much mind to the other man in the elevator with him-- he wouldn't even look at him. The Samoyed, on the other hand, stood close behind Niko's legs, head lowered and ears flattened. Its eyes constantly shifted back and forth to look at the floor, and back to the other man in the elevator with Niko-- a look of weariness. Elevator doors close, and the small box begins its ascension. The ever-so-passive young man had wandering purple eyes in contrast to his pet, hands in the pockets of his jacket and whistling with no worries whatsoever. That is, until there was a sudden stop that slightly shook the box, disorienting both Niko and his dog.

"God-- what the hell?" The young man groaned, slowly coming to the realization that the elevator wasn't moving anymore. It was stuck completely. "Damn. Ain't my lucky day, huh?" He huffed, before he finally decided to turn towards the other man in the elevator, as if looking for confirmation that the situation at hand was reality. Niko takes in a small gasp, happening to recognize the man. 'Ain't this the guy that runs the pet store downtown? No damn way.' He internally thought. The long-haired man shook his head a bit in relief, knowing that he wasn't stuck with some rando that he'd never seen in his life. "We're really stuck here.." Some disbelief snuck into his tone, sliding one hand out of his pocket to itch the back of his neck. Niko's head craned down to look at his dog, who seemed to also know what was going on, now backed into the wall on Niko's side.

"Aw, buddy, what's the matter?" He asked the dog as if it spoke English, crouching down to scratch the dog's ears. He turned his side to look at Zack, "Sorry, about this, my dog doesn't really trust other people.. Picked him up long ago when he was a puppy." Niko explained, pushing himself up to his feet again and taking a few steps over to the other man in the elevator. "Hey, I'll tell ya what." He reaches into his pocket, conjuring up a dog treat from a plastic baggie, pushing it into Zack's hand. "He kinda fakes it just to get treats from other people. He'll only let you pet him if you feed him," The younger man's only eye closes in laughter, "sorry if ya get any fur on you, by the way. I gave him a bath and blow dried him just yesterday, but he's still shedding like crazy!"

v (LOL HELP ME I AM GIGGLING 😭😭😭😭 NOO POOR SIENNA)