Scene Summary: Scream Therapy

Scream Therapy
Chronicle	DC Chronicle
Game Date	December 3, 2015
Real Date	April 9-18, 2016
Characters	Hope Gutierrez Maeve Glaistig Roland Christensen Samantha Gunnarsson
Locations	Purgatory
Previous Scene	When in Doubt, Drink (Hope, Roland) Nordic Fog (Maeve) Dirty Work (Samantha)
Next Scene	Phone Call: Hope to Ginevra (Hope) Damsels in Distress (Hope) Until the Sun Sets (Roland) Phone Call: Ginevra to Sam (Samantha)
Content Warnings	Death, Domestic Abuse, Mental Illness, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Substance Abuse, Violence, Warfare
Original Scene	Scream Therapy

Scream Therapy is a scene from the DC Chronicle featuring Hope Gutierrez, Maeve Glaistig, and Samantha Gunnarsson, with a minor appearance by Roland Christensen. It depicts Hope and Maeve getting drunk at Purgatory and holding an impromptu wake for Ian Kross.

Scene Summary

Maeve arrives at Purgatory, nervous about entering alone, and takes a seat at the bar, where she orders a sweet cocktail as she waits. Hope arrives a few minutes later, worrying about her recent phone call with Danny Wheyton, and sits down beside her. She orders both liquor and beer and begins drinking both and pushing Maeve to do the same as they exchange hellos. Maeve asks what Hope needed to meet her for, concerned that something is wrong, but Hope explains that she has been chosen to represent Clan Ventrue in the upcoming neonate competition and wants guidance about how to compete.

As they talk, they briefly discuss Casper Iversson, who they have both met recently; Maeve believes he is a nice person, but Hope warns her about his talk about fighting the Sabbat and that she thinks he seemed strange. Hope explains Casper's recruitment drive and Maeve is taken aback, distresed by the reminder of other vampire conflicts. Hope mentions that Anarchs never forget war crimes, causing Maeve to ask her what she means, and Hope begins to tell her about the war in New Haven, which Maeve knows very little about. Angry and grieving, Hope tells Maeve that Ian Kross left the Anarchs of the city to be killed by the Sabbat and that she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.

Maeve is shocked and disagrees, sure that there must be some other explanation for what happened, but they are interrupted by a bar patron attempting to hit on Maeve. When he ignores Maeve's attempt to brush him off, Hope smashes a glass and threatens to cut his throat until he flees the bar, causing Maeve to freeze in fear. Hope feels bad for frightening her and is upset that she does not believe her about Ian, and pays for the drinks before leaving, apologizing and telling her that she can keep her nice memories if she wants to. Chastened, Maeve gives Roland additional money before following her out into the street.

Maeve apologizes for arguing with Hope's memories and explains that she was surprised because, in similar situations in Chicago, Ian had always refused to abandon anyone even when she was afraid for his life. Hope is surprised that Maeve would follow her but glad not to be alone, and starts explaining the Sabbat invasion of New Haven and New York. She praises Ian's determination never to leave anyone behind, but then savagely judges him for making a deal with the Camarilla to let the city fall without even telling the rest of his sect. Maeve tells her that he never warned anyone when he changed sects in Chicago, either, and that even she didn't know what he was doing when he became Prince, secretly believing that he was never meant for the role.

Hope and Maeve continue to drink whiskey and become considerably drunk as Hope tells Maeve the story of Ian disappearing from New Haven right before the Sabbat came. Maeve is sympathetic and sad, remembering times in the past that she was abandoned herself, and when Hope mentions looking for Ian says that she didn't have to as she was there when he died. Hope asks for details, and Maeve describes being attacked by Sabbat outside of Elysium and of being trapped underneath Ian when he was killed, although she is hazy on the details due to having been injured.

Hope is glad that Maeve survived and unhappy that she feels even worse now that she knows more, and Maeve explains that Ian had used Dominate on her to force her to prioritize her safety. They briefly complain about him and both begin to cry, with Hope saying that she hates him but cannot stop feeling grief over his death. They sit down on the ground in an alley and continue to drink together, and Hope explains that she knows Ian made a deal because it included saving her, relating that she was caught by the invaders but then let go when they recognized her. Maeve still does not believe this, but doesn't have the heart to argue, only reminding Hope that vampires are notorious liars.

Hope tells Maeve that she visited Ian in Chicago and they had a final falling out, and that she never saw him again, and Maeve tries to help her feel better by making fun of Ian's foibles. The two of them laugh and sadly bond over their shared memories of Ian's behavior, both good and bad, and discuss his dating history, which makes Maeve sad and Hope angry as they mention his various other lovers. Maeve tells Hope stories of when he treated her interchangeably with other women, and Hope tells Maeve that he often told her that he had never wanted to Embrace her, shocking Maeve into being angry as well.

Thoroughly drunk, they make fun of their new realization that most of Ian's former lovers were very small. Maeve begins to cry over her relationship with him, but drunkenly falls over, knocking Hope down as well when she tries to catch her. Realizing that they are far too drunk to get home, Hope calls both Sam and Ginevra Bianchi, although she playfully pretends that she and Maeve are having an affair rather than only drinking together. Maeve accidentally uses Melpominee while laughing and the two of them become giddy, lying on the ground until Sam finally arrives to find them.

Sam is amused by their drunkenness and helps them both up as Hope makes introductions. Hope explains that Sam will have to help Maeve, as she is too drunk and worries that she might hurt her with uncontrolled Potence, and all three of them stagger off to find somewhere to sleep for the day.

Script Summary

The script summary for this scene pares it down to only dialogue and action directions, allowing for a quicker and easier read through what was actually said and done by the characters. Click on the "Expand" tag to the right to view the entire script summary for this scene.

Scream Therapy Script Summary

Maeve arrives at Purgatory and pauses in the doorway before going to the bar. She hops up onto a stool and orders a sweet drink. A few minutes later, Hope arrives and joins her.

HOPE: Sup?

She hops onto a stool next to Maeve and orders two shots and a pitcher of beer.

MAEVE: Hello. Nothing, really, just coming to see you. Limbo tomorrow, but that's really all I do.

She shrugs.

HOPE: Step one. Get drunk.

Maeve waves for another drink and finishes her current one.

MAEVE: So what did you want to talk about? Is everything all right?

HOPE: Oh yeah.

She shrugs.

HOPE: I mean, no, but who expects any different?

She searches her pockets and then pulls two twenty-dollar bills out of her bra. She pours two glasses of beer.

HOPE: Never-ending bullshit is kinda part of the deal.

Maeve sighs.

MAEVE: Oh, dear. I just want to warn you, I'm afraid after this I'll probably stop being very good company. I'm not much of a heavyweight.

HOPE: It's cool. At least you're a funny drunk.

She slides Maeve a glass of beer and a shot, then raises her shot glass. Maeve also raises hers.

HOPE: To the bullshit. May we always remember a shovel.

MAEVE: Or a stepladder.

Maeve drinks her shot and coughs as she puts the glass down. Hope drinks her shot and begins drinking from her beer.

MAEVE: It could be worse. You could have to go to salons every week.

HOPE: Oh, trust me, I am seriously woke to the Anarch privilege. I've been to, like, two fancy parties lately. I'm going to get a rash.

She snorts.

HOPE: Which is kinda what you should expect from the kind of parties poseurs throw. No offense. Just everybody in your family is super slutty and handsy.

Maeve laughs.

MAEVE: I'm not offended. They really can't keep their hands to themselves. Or I suppose if some of them can, I've never met them. I would say I understand preferring your family, but... well, I was never really close with any of them.

HOPE: Well, that makes two of us. Never really been anybody's favorite king. Especially not in my own family. Not many blue bloods running in my circles anyway. Go figure.

She drinks more beer.

HOPE: Which is why it's kinda crazy that I'm supposed to be some paragon of fucking baby Ventrue-ness now. You heard of this weirdo competition thing?

MAEVE: I think my assistant mentioned something about it, although I get the impression she's running circles around the Tremere staff to try to keep me out of it. What is it they want you to do? I really don't... know much about what's going on in the city, yet.

She sighs.

MAEVE: Not that I've been trying very hard to find out. I think the only people I've said more than a handful of words to are you and my Primogen. Oh, and one of the Rebels, a gentleman named Casper, although I only met him briefly. Oh. And the Prince, of course.

HOPE: Fuck if I know. A lot of vague shit about representing your family and all that. I mean, are there rounds? I don't know how to cheat if I don't know the rules.

She drinks more beer.

MAEVE: Hmm. I don't know for sure, but those kinds of things usually don't have rules. It'll probably be a panel of judges or something. So a little difficult to cheat, unless you want to sabotage your competition in some inventive way. Whittle through their high heels. Draw an ink line around the rim of their glasses. Cough whenever they say something. I could ask, though, if you like. I'll probably see Ms. Taylor tomorrow night.

Hope snorts. Maeve drinks more beer.

HOPE: Yeah. Cool. Cool. Yeah. Let me know what you hear. Oh wait. Casper? Pretty blonde guy? Huh. That dumbass was in here last night. Is he always like that or do I just bring it out in guys?

MAEVE: Oh, yes, that sounds like him. Last night? That's when I saw him, actually. Like what? He was very nice when I talked to him. I mean, he had bad news, but he was nice about it. He made my assistant muffins.

HOPE: I didn't get any damn muffins. He wouldn't put out either. Not my night I guess.

She finishes her beer and pours a new one.

MAEVE: Well, it's not as if you could eat the muffins. They did smell nice, though.

HOPE: Anyway. He was weird. I mean... He was a nice, and that's its own weird, but he was also kinda a dick. I didn't get the impression that he goes out much. Like he knows the moves, but was also grown in some Cammy lab and he just hatched. Nah, that'd actually be pretty cool.

Maeve chokes on her drink, then laughs.

MAEVE: Oh, dear. Well, he did come from Paris. It's not exactly rough and tumble over there. But he does mean to be nice. Maybe he just needs someone to show him around.

She finishes her beer and puts the empty glass on the bar.

MAEVE: He mentioned that he works for someone over there, so it may just be jitters from being away from home. I imagine it's a culture shock for him.

HOPE: Well, he needs to figure it out fast. Over here, you act stupid, you get dead. Did he tell you why he's here?

Maeve shakes her head. Hope bangs on the bar with her fist.

HOPE: Hey. Two more shots. Casper's here to fight monsters. Get a couple of nice trophies for his wall back home or whatever. Idiot. They never care how much blood's on 'em, ya know? Shines up all the same.

MAEVE: What monsters?

Roland slides shot glasses toward them. Maeve takes one.

HOPE: Yeah. Monsters. Boogeymen. Things that go bump in the night that ain't us.

She sighs and leans close to Maeve.

HOPE: You know... Sabbat.

MAEVE: Oh. I'm sure... that doesn't sound right. That doesn't sound like him.

HOPE: Not saying he's not a super terrific guy. Just that he didn't seem long for this world.

She drains a shot, then pours Maeve another glass of beer.

HOPE: True believer, and all that. Ready to fight the good fight and looking for a few good human shields. ike anybody with half a brain would fall for it.

MAEVE: They always... they always do that.

HOPE: No. He'll get a couple of bruisers with hard-ons for the killing, but none of mine. Nobody that matters.

She shakes her head.

HOPE: Anarchs never forget. Well... Some of us never forget.

Maeve drinks a shot.

MAEVE: You know, I feel like you're talking about something in particular, but I can't think what.

HOPE: Yeah. I get the impression he left a few things out. Did our favorite asshole ever tell you about New Haven?

MAEVE: Did... Oh. Um... he mentioned that he was there? I knew he was there, but he never really wanted to talk about it. Just that something bad had happened, when he was, well, in a different political party.

She shakes her head.

MAEVE: I think I heard more about it from Mila than him, actually. When she wasn't trying to get me killed. I mean, no, she just... well, she didn't like me very much.

She drinks from her beer. Hope points at a bottle of whiskey, then pulls money out of her bra and shoves it across the bar toward Roland.

HOPE: Hey, you. Give me that one. Not a shot. The whole thing. Just— Yeah. Whole bottle, dude.

She sits back down.

HOPE: Mila? Thought she died in New Haven. Everybody else did.

She finishes her beer.

HOPE: Which is a pretty big deal, as far as something bad goes.

She uncaps the whiskey and drinks out of the bottle, then pours a shot.

MAEVE: Oh, no. Very much alive. I mean, I think so. I suppose I don't know for sure, I didn't see where she went. Things were... pretty bad, in Chicago, I mean. At the end.

She shakes her head.

HOPE: Can see why he wouldn't mention it though. Seeing as he was the something bad.

She picks up the shot and stares at it.

HOPE: He wasn't... Whoever you think he was. Wasn't who I thought he was either. He left us all there to die.

Maeve finishes her beer.

MAEVE: I don't understand.

HOPE: He was baron. He made a deal, sold us out. Then he left us all to die.

She finally drinks her shot, then pours another.

HOPE: Not much to understand. Everybody says New Haven fell but it didn't. It was pushed.

MAEVE: That can't be right. That can't—

Roland sets down two martinis in front of them.

ROLAND: From the guy down at the other end of the bar.

MAEVE: There must be something else. Something must have—

A man approaches from down the bar and touches Maeve's arm. She jumps. He gestures at the martini glasses.

MAEVE: Oh, no, I'm very flattered, but I'm sorry, I'm with my friend right now.

The man grabs Maeve's elbow and she sidles toward Hope.

MAEVE: I'm really very sorry—

Hope grabs one of the martini glasses and smashes it against the bar, then holds a piece of jagged glass up to the man's throat. Maeve flattens herself against the bar.

HOPE: Ooh, sexy. You feeling lucky tonight, champ?

MAEVE: I'm sorry, but we really are very busy. Maybe another time.

The man backs away and then leaves the bar. Hope throws the broken glass behind the bar, sighs, and grabs the whiskey bottle.

HOPE: Sorry. For scaring you.

She gets up from her stool.

HOPE: This is the part where they kick me out. So. I was there. Beginning to end. I know what happened. You wanna know, I'll tell you. You wanna... hold on to something... I don't know. I guess that's okay too.

She shrugs.

HOPE: Sorry.

She leaves Purgatory, slamming the door against the wall and cracking it. Behind her, Maeve pulls a wallet out of her purse and offers several bills to Roland, then gets up and follows Hope outside.

MAEVE: Wait. No, wait. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say... that. I didn't mean to say you were wrong. It's just...

Hope stops and Maeve catches up to her.

MAEVE: It's just, he wouldn't. In Chicago. He wouldn't go, even though I knew, I knew what would happen. I begged him not to do anything brave. But he never listened.

Hope shakes her head.

HOPE: What a big damn hero.

They begin to walk down the street.

HOPE: The packs came months before they ever made it to New York. Trying to find a way in, I guess. I didn't go out in it. I wasn't— I mean, I was like a minute old, ya know? They wouldn't let me. But I saw groups going out. Coming back and they'd be, like, half the size. We, we lost a lot of people. But we didn't fall. Ian wouldn't let us. He — He went out every single night until they were gone. After, too. When some of the guys went missing. He went out looking for them for weeks. I mean, everybody knew they were dead. But he wouldn't stop. Like... It would all be okay, as long as he didn't give up.

MAEVE: That sounds familiar.

Hope stops walking, then turns down an alley.

HOPE: This way. Anyway. So we fought 'em off, at least made the creeps think twice. Then... New York fell.

She drinks from the whiskey bottle.

HOPE: Ian and Jimmy and a bunch of the others all left. Gotta do the right thing, yeah? Even if it kills you. I guess that's when he made the deal. During the afterparty. Some shit like that. He joined the Cam and we didn't even know.

MAEVE: He never gave us any warning, either. I mean, in Chicago. I mean, not when he went back to the Anarchs, he didn't even tell the Prince, just assumed he'd made enough noise and someone would get it around, I guess. And then, I knew he was going back to the Cam, but I don't think... I don't think he told anyone else. And he didn't even tell me. What he was doing.

She shakes her head and wobbles.

MAEVE: He was an Anarch when I woke up and then Prince before the end of the night and it was all... just not right.

She holds out a hand and Hope gives her the whiskey bottle. Maeve drinks from it.

HOPE: Prince. No wonder he's dead. I thought he was dead. When he didn't come back with everybody else. Jimmy said he'd gotten snatched up for some hotshot meeting when they were heading out of town. But then he was there. Came home one night and I thought, okay, now everything can go back to the way it was.

She stops and leans against the alley wall.

HOPE: He was gone the next night. Took all his stuff and he... He left. I think he left a note. I don't remember though.

Maeve offers the bottle back to her.

HOPE: We were gonna go looking for him, ya know? Like he was just lost or something. But they attacked before we got the chance. And then... Everybody was dead.

MAEVE: I'm sorry. I'm sorry everyone is gone. I'm sorry you got left behind.

She leans on the wall next to Hope.

MAEVE: I didn't look for him. I was there.

HOPE: You saw him die? How'd it happen?

MAEVE: All over me.

There is a long pause. Maeve puts the bottle down on the ground.

MAEVE: We were... outside Elysium, and it was... Sabbat, I suppose. A Gangrel.

She shakes her head and bangs it against the fence behind her.

MAEVE: Sorry. I don't... I don't remember it all very well. I think something hit me. A car, or a person maybe. I... I went down. I couldn't... it was too fast. I couldn't get out from under them.

There is another long pause. Maeve begins to cry silently.

MAEVE: Then I ran away.

Hope begins to cry and uses her shirt collar to scrub her face, then sits down on the ground.

HOPE: Good. You running away, I mean. Good. Dying's stupid. But people keep on doing it.

She grabs the bottle and drinks from it.

HOPE: Sabbat, huh? Fits, I guess. Doesn't make it any better. Monsters, right? Fucking monsters.

Maeve slides down the wall and sits next to Hope.

MAEVE: That's what he said, too. About running away, I mean. He— He made me. I mean, he put it in my head, so if something scared me—

She shakes her head.

MAEVE: He meant well, I know he meant well. But he would keep on doing that.

HOPE: Keep doing what? Meaning well or hurting people?

MAEVE: Both, I suppose?

They both laugh.

HOPE: I... I hate him. I hate him and I wish I wasn't sad that he was dead. But I can't stop.

Maeve takes Hope's hand and squeezes it. Hope squeezes back.

MAEVE: I know. You're supposed to get to be something else before sad, aren't you? It's part of the... whatever it is, the steps. You're supposed to get to be angry. But here we are.

HOPE: Angry's just sad with an attitude. Besides, I'm always angry. Don't know what that says about me. Been angry since I died. Never helped anything before.

MAEVE: Maybe just that you have something to be angry about.

HOPE: It wasn't the Sabbat that sacked New Haven. That's the deal he made. That's why I wish I could hate him.

MAEVE: You know they lie, right? We lie.

HOPE: He didn't. I mean, he did. All the time. But—

She pulls her hand away.

HOPE: They let me go. One of them, he looked right at me. He knew who I was and he let me go. I told Ian. In Chicago. I told him what had happened, I told him New Haven never fell. I told him what I saw. And he — he didn't even lie. He told me to shut up. Shut up before I got myself killed. So I punched him and left. And... I never saw him again.

There is a long silence.

MAEVE: You didn't miss much. Yelled at everyone, whether they did anything to deserve it or not. Threw things at people. Punched his friends. Slept with— Well. Anyway, you'd just have ended up hitting him again. Several times, I imagine.

Hope laughs and Maeve joins her.

HOPE: Sounds about right. Guy only ever seemed to have two modes: fight or fuck. And nobody could find the switch.

She laughs again. She pulls a flash out of her boot and drinks from it, then offers it to Maeve.

HOPE: And... Whatever being a patronizing ass counts as. I got a lot of that one. Just my luck, right?

MAEVE: Everybody got a lot of that one. I don't think I ever saw anybody he, he wouldn't explain something to even though they already knew it.

She takes the flash and drinks, then coughs and hands it back to Hope. Hope laughs and shakes her head.

HOPE: What a charmer, my dad. Must be where I got my sparkling personality.

MAEVE: I doubt it. You've never even thrown anything at me. Not nearly as exciting. It's not that hard. If he's yelling, yell back at him, then cry. It works every time, even if you don't want it to.

She wipes blood from her face.

MAEVE: I never figured out how to switch it back the other way, though. Short of just leaving until he got mad about it.

HOPE: Oh. Well crying. That's why I never figured it out.

Maeve laughs. Hope drinks from the flask and puts it back in her boot.

HOPE: Kudos, though. Kinda glad somebody managed to figure it out. For... I dunno, womankind. I mean, I saw him date Mila.

She shrugs.

MAEVE: Yeah, well, so did I.

She sighs.

MAEVE: My own fault, really. As he was happy to inform me.

HOPE: Shit. He never tried dating two women at the same time in New Haven. Guess he just got classier with age. That sucks.

MAEVE: Two would have been an improvement over the actual number, unfortunately.

Hope groans, then pulls out her flask again and tosses it into Maeve's lap. Maeve catches it and drinks from it.

HOPE: Fuck him. He was an idiot. If it makes you feel any better, he cheated on Mila all the time behind her back. I mean, I think he was always a pig.

MAEVE: It doesn't, not really. I mean, it wasn't her fault. She was always... she was always so angry. And sad. He was just... he was just so bad at it, you know? Like he barely tried. Or I guess just didn't care very much.

She shakes the flask to listen to it, then drinks more.

HOPE: Yeah, well there were only so many things he was actually good at.

MAEVE: I, he tore up one of my shirts once, so he said he had some of mine in his closet, but it wasn't mine, it was Mila's. And I looked at him, and you know what he said?

She shakes her head.

MAEVE: He said, 'well, aren't you two the same size anyway, what's the problem?'

She puts her hands over her eyes and leans back against the wall.

HOPE: Mila scared the shit out of me. She wasn't a super bitch to me or anything, but... I always got the impression that she was just waiting for the excuse, ya know?

MAEVE: I knew better. I knew he didn't actually like me very much. He said so enough. So I get it, that thing you said. About crying about things.

HOPE: Yeah. Always a go-to for him, I guess. He told me he never wanted to embrace me.

She sighs.

HOPE: Like, a lot. He never got that it lost its sting after the first few times. Then it was stupid loud Ian noise.

MAEVE: He did not. What a — I don't know. I don't know what.

HOPE: The biggest I-don't-know-what that I ever met. Wait. You and Mila are the same size? What the fuck was his deal with short chicks anyway? That Toreador chick he dated forever before Mila was short too.

Maeve laughs.

MAEVE: I don't know. I mean, it wasn't always... everyone wasn't short. Just likes looming over people, I guess. Liked. Otherwise how would he intimidate you?

She shakes her head and wobbles.

HOPE: I can see the appeal. Could get used to having you around. I feel like a giant.

She groans and stands up. Maeve laughs.

MAEVE: I make everbody feel like a giant.

HOPE: Jimmy said it was to make his dick look bigger.

Maeve laughs hysterically.

MAEVE: I didn't know he was ever with a Toreador. Another Toreador, I mean. You'd think... the way he hates us, you'd think he wouldn't have done that again.

Maeve returns the flask and Hope finishes it, then puts it away again. Hope offers Maeve a hand to help her up.

HOPE: I think the first one was more the reason he hated Toreador. He never wanted to talk about it. But I think she dumped him or something. Made fun of his hair. I don't know.

MAEVE: That's too bad. I mean... I don't know, he never mentioned her. He didn't like talking about things like that. Poor Ian. I could never make him happy, you know? I didn't know how. I just couldn't do it.

HOPE: Hey. No. Don't, don't say that—

MAEVE: Uh oh.

Maeve wobbles and falls.

HOPE: Shit!

Hope grabs Maeve but pulls too hard and they both fall to the ground.

HOPE: Caught you.

Maeve laughs.

MAEVE: Or I got you.

She tries to get up and falls down again. She rolls over on her back next to Hope and puts her hands over her eyes. Hope sighs and Maeve groans.

MAEVE: My assistant. She's going to kill me. I can't call her, she'll kill me.

Hope wipes her face.

HOPE: Ha ha. You're in trouble.

She groans and gets up on her hands and knees.

MAEVE: I'm in so much trouble.

HOPE: Shit. I'm probably in trouble.

She sits up and pulls out her phone, then sends a text message to Sam.

MAEVE: She's going to be so upset. She worries, she worries too much. I gave her the night off. So bad at giving her time off, I keep ending up having to call her anyway.

HOPE: Okay. 'Drunk and lost. Come find me.' Sound good? Cuz I just sent it.

Maeve uncovers her eyes.

MAEVE: I mean, I'd come. I'm already here, though. How will someone find us? We're lost.

HOPE: You're right. We. Are. Lost.

Maeve laughs.

MAEVE: That was the point in DC, so good job, though. To get lost. We did it.

HOPE: But... Sam will find us.

Hope's phone buzzes and she reads it, then sends another message and turns on her GPS.

HOPE: See? She's on her way. Maybe. Okay. Definitely. Want me to call yours? I got a way with the ladies.

Maeve tries to sit up and leans against Hope.

MAEVE: Obviously you do. Okay, okay.

She rolls to the side to find her purse and pulls out her phone, which she hands to Hope.

MAEVE: Don't... tell her I'm drunk. She'll just panic.

Hope takes Maeve's phone and scrolls through the contacts before calling Ginevra Bianchi. She puts a finger to her lips.

HOPE: Shh. Don't... Don't sound drunk.

Hope talks to Ginevra and Maeve starts laughing uncontrollably again. Hope puts a hand on Maeve's face to shush her.

MAEVE: Tarrtháil, I'm dying, you've killed me.

She accidentally uses the Melpominee discipline to make Hope feel her giddiness.

MAEVE: She's never going to believe you, but at least she doesn't know I'm drunk.

She continues laughing.

HOPE: Of course she believed us. I'm — I'm irresistible!

Hope starts laughing as well and takes off her jacket and tosses it over Maeve, then lies down on the ground again. Maeve pulls it around her shoulders.

MAEVE: Of course you are. I'd have believed you.

HOPE: Hope you don't get grounded. I didn't get you in trouble, did I? Like... With your lady? I mean, is she your lady? Should I have not said the sex thing?

Maeve giggles.

MAEVE: Oh. Oh, no, she's just my friend, Ginevra. I mean, I probably am in trouble, but just for worrying her, not anything else. I don't have a lady, or a, or an anybody else for that matter. You should see all the gentlemen she keeps trying to get me to go spend time with. Probably wake up married off to someone in Clan Toreador one of these nights. She could do it. She thinks I'll feel better if I just, I don't know. Find my way into a movie or something.

HOPE: Ugh. I thought you said she was your friend? I mean, no offense but... Ugh. t's okay. You can tell her you had a great time. Got laid and didn't even have to cry first. I mean, you did. But you don't have to tell her that part. But if she calls back, I'm gonna need less laughing and — and way more moaning or something. Maybe, like, 'oh my God, that's amazing' or 'never in my life' — okay?

MAEVE: Don't worry. I am a very good actress.

Sam appears in the distance.

SAM: Hope! HOPE!

She runs toward Hope and Maeve, then slows down and stands over them.

SAM: Ooooh. You two are so druuuunk.

She laughs.

MAEVE: Hi. Are you a friend of Hope's?

She sits up. Hope rolls over and then stands up.

HOPE: Hey, babe. This is my girlfriend, Sam. Sam, this is Maeve. My very best drinking friend, who you are going to help to the car.

She laughs.

HOPE: Because I am too drunk and will break her.

SAM: Hi, Maeve. I'm Sam. Come on.

She helps Maeve stand up.

SAM: You're so small. Look, Hope, she's so small. You want me to carry you?

She pats Maeve's head.

Translations

Trivia

• The recent phone call that Hope is stewing over is seen in Phone Call: Danny to Hope
  
  
• Hope's mention of visiting Purgatory the night before refers to the events of When in Doubt, Drink.
  
  
• Maeve's recent meeting with Casper took place in Nordic Fog.
  
  
• Hope's understanding of the events of the fall of New Haven are close to accurate but missing many key details; most notably, she is correct that her Ian Kross brokered her freedom and fled New Haven before its destruction, but she is unaware that he fought but was unable to stop the destruction of the city.
  
  
• Maeve's memories of Ian's past concern for others refer to the events of White Night Fantasy (Ian weeping over the destruction of Kross Industries), Remember the Name (Ian marshaling neonates against the Sabbat), and Veritas (Ian explaning his reasons for taking praxis).
  
  
• Although Hope is unaware of it, Ian's fervor to find lost comrades after fights with the Sabbat is partly due to his attempts to find Colin Thomas after his abduction.
  
  
• Ian's mentioned defection to the Anarchs took place in What Your Eyes Can Do; his subsequent return to the Camarilla and assumption of praxis took place in In the Land of the Blind.
  
  
• Maeve's memories of her fear for Ian on the night that she met Claudia Danut and his use of Dominate to protect her refer to the events of Remember the Name.
  
  
• Although Maeve tells Hope that Ian was killed by a Sabbat Gangrel, his actual attacker was Colin Thomas. Ian had injured Maeve moments before, incurring Colin's wrath and damaging her memory; this is also why she believes that Ian turned to ash while on top of her, having confused him for a Sabbat vampire that Colin killed.
  
  
• Maeve's mention of the "steps" of sadness and anger is a mangling of the concept of the Kübler-Ross model of the Five Stages of Grief.
  
  
• Maeve's mention of Ian throwing something at her, as well as her story about her shirt, refers to the events of We All Need Somebody.
  
  
• Hope's assertion that Ian was frequently unfaithful to Mila Kross is authoritative; Hope was the person he was being unfaithful with.
  
  
• Ian's much-discussed but unnamed previous Toreador girlfriend is Rosalina de Leon; while Hope says that she doesn't know why Ian now hates her, she is lying, since she knows that it was Rosalina's attempt to kill Hope that caused the rift between the couple.
  
  
• The taller lover Maeve recalls Ian having is Gentle Wind.
  
  
• The secret Maeve mentions Ian knowing is the fact that she is actually a Ravnos, not a Toreador.
  
  
• Hope's conversation with Ginevra Bianchi appears in Phone Call: Hope to Ginevra.
  
  
• The phone call with a foreign lady Sam refers to is seen in Phone Call: Ginevra to Sam.