selfmadman: (would never let him die alone)
Don Draper ([personal profile] selfmadman) wrote in [community profile] taxonomites2011-08-12 08:21 pm

[text | location: scdp] strike another match, go start anew

A skyscraper vanishes. It's autumn—a painter's autumn, the leaves ablaze with color and wind whipping through the streets—the day Don takes the tram to Luthor Plaza and finds a misshapen warehouse with a banner announcing HAWAIIAN BBQ sagging over the entrance. He steps inside still anticipating lobby, elevators, a purposeful bustle. The greasy tang of barbecue enfolds him.

That night he wakes sweating on the hotel bed. He strips and showers but a sticky heat stays in the air. He pours himself a drink (number five, number one), switches on the air conditioner, and watches the ice in his glass melt to slivers. Imagines a building evaporating.

He gets out his tablet and in the lamp's dim glow looks at the map. The dots scattered over it are still. He remembers opening the door to Sally and Bobby's room, slipping out of the hall's harsh light into darkness. Back then they'd slept with intense concentration and complete trust.

Don turns off the tablet, finishes his drink. He clicks off the lamp and rolls onto his stomach. Sleep settles lightly over him until suddenly he recoils from it, grabbing for the tablet and knocking the glass to the floor.

At Mattie's apartment he opens every drawer, every cabinet, moving with deliberation born of panic. He stops when he finds the coin. He slumps down onto the bed, a California gold piece in the palm of his hand. It's a long time before his fingers close around it.

When he leaves the sun is rising. Grass that yesterday was brown and brittle has sprung back to life. Trees are green. It's gonna be a hot one.

He types out a message—Mattie Ross is gone—and heads for the office.


ooc: Slightly backdated and stuff.

Re: [text]

[identity profile] ironfright.livejournal.com 2011-08-14 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ and he's just going to slam the tablet on something repeatedly, so Don may get long strings of keysmash ]
hasaheart: (:()

[text]

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-08-13 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
It takes a while for Cain to see the message, even with his (now less and less common) insomnia. He doesn't usually bother with the tablet this early in the morning, feeling not quite like himself until he's had coffee.

Finding Mister Draper's message on there doesn't help matters. Of all the people here, it seems more and more like the people he cares about are the first ones to go.

I'm sorry to hear it.
aintnoconvict: (far afield and so symbolic)

[ ...typesender ]

[personal profile] aintnoconvict 2011-08-14 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ upon arriving at the office, Don would discover that one typewriter has taken on a life of its own and printed the following: ]

Sorry. I think I only met her once. By the looks of the skyline I think we lost a few other folks too.

Sincerely - G

[ text ]

[identity profile] virtued.livejournal.com 2011-08-15 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ stefan double checks the map to make sure, but it's a wasted effort, for the message is correct: mattie's gone. he hadn't known her very well, but if the theory people had about what happened to you when you left was true, he did envy her. she was going back to a time closer to the one he should've existed solely in. ]

Hopefully she's been sent home.