Worth the Pain [WWE; Edge, Gangrel]
Dec. 23rd, 2017 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schizoauthoress_libraryTitle: Worth the Pain
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: R
Spoilers: set after Summerslam 2008 (August 17) and before Survivor Series 2008 (November 23)
Warnings: strong language, mysticism, kayfabe-influenced
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 724
Summary: Edge got chokeslammed to Hell and came back three months later, and nobody bothered to explain. Gangrel isn't happy.
Edit (21-December-2018): In the time between now and the original writing, I decided to work in more details from David Heath's life, and a certain passage near the end doesn't make sense with the more intricate backstory I've built up. For curatory purposes, I've included the original passage as an "end note" of sorts, but it's no longer canon to "Walking with Death".
Worth the Pain
"You are an absolute asshole."
Hearing that unexpected comment as he crossed the parking lot of WWE headquarters, Edge was pretty sure he literally jumped. He turned toward the speaker, who was mostly shrouded in shadow.
Mostly. Light from the nearest streetlamp gleamed off the black sunglasses he wore, and furious blue eyes were revealed when he pulled them off his face.
Edge exclaimed, "Gangrel!"
"Oh, you do remember me -- how nice!" Gangrel spat. He lunged forward, clearly aiming to grab Edge, who just barely managed to dodge.
"What the fuck?" Edge demanded.
"I was back from Spain and nobody bothered to tell me that my errant childe was in a match with the Undertaker!" Gangrel snarled. "So all I knew was that I suddenly couldn't feel you in my head anymore, and I thought you'd been staked!"
Edge stared at his vampiric sire with utter confusion, and said the first thing that came to his mind: "...You care?"
Gangrel grabbed for Edge again, this time managing it. He grasped the man's arm hard, just above the left elbow. And Edge yelped in pain, drawing a look of surprised remorse from the vampire.
Once he loosened his grip -- not entirely, but enough to stop causing Edge discomfort -- Gangrel demanded, "What happened to you?"
"I got chokeslammed directly to Hell about three months ago and only just managed to get back to the land of the living...oh, day before yesterday?" Edge said, flat and dry and completely sincere. "So, you know, your whole thinking I was dead thing was pretty close to the mark."
Gangrel furrowed his brow and just stared at Edge for a long time.
Edge fidgeted but didn't try to pull free yet. Sometimes the older vampire got weird -- forgetting to explain himself while indulging in some vampiric ability -- and the best course of action was usually to wait it out.
"You didn't die," Gangrel said eventually. "He sent you to Hell without actually killing you... but you're human now."
"Wait, seriously?" Edge asked.
"How could you not realize you weren't a vampire anymore?"
"I figured my body had to adjust to being out of Hell and the thirst would come back..." Edge gave a little shrug. "I really didn't notice when it went away either. Hell is completely fucked when it comes to time and space."
Gangrel released Edge. "The strangest damn things happen to you. I hope you're at least aware of that."
Edge rubbed at his arm, and shot back, "Says the sun-proof vampire."
"We're-- I'm sun resistant and you know the story behind that."
"And I guess the story behind this," Edge swept his right hand -- down and then up -- in front of his body to indicate himself and his newly mortal state, "is that I pissed off the Undertaker. Again."
"Which you should have known not to do!" Gangrel yelled. "Now you see what soul chaser magic does to vampires!"
"Hey! You didn't know this would happen either, and you've antagonized the Deadman before, so I don't think you've got any kind of moral high ground here."
Just as suddenly as he'd lashed out in rage at Edge earlier, Gangrel deflated. He ducked his head and slipped his sunglasses on. "I suppose I don't," the vampire said in a subdued tone. "But I thought you were dead."
That comment made Edge mad all over again, but he'd come a long way from letting his anger and resentment control him. Why did Gangrel care if he was dead or not? Gangrel hadn't checked up on Edge or Christian in the years since 'the Brood' disbanded.
Had he?
"Would it matter if I was?" Edge asked.
"If you were," Gangrel replied, "then my family would be that much smaller. Since you never liked being a vampire, and you're human now, I guess that's true anyway."
Edge stepped forward, with a half-formed idea to reach out to Gangrel, but the vampire moved into the dark -- faster than a human eye could follow, Edge realized -- and was gone. Edge sighed.
"Human," he said out loud. "I'm human. Again." That was going to take some getting used to.
Edge rubbed at his arm again. It still hurt a little, which was strange to realize after so many years as a super-strong, super-durable vampire. He'd have to get used to pain.
"This sucks."
*-*-*-*-*
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: R
Spoilers: set after Summerslam 2008 (August 17) and before Survivor Series 2008 (November 23)
Warnings: strong language, mysticism, kayfabe-influenced
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 724
Summary: Edge got chokeslammed to Hell and came back three months later, and nobody bothered to explain. Gangrel isn't happy.
Edit (21-December-2018): In the time between now and the original writing, I decided to work in more details from David Heath's life, and a certain passage near the end doesn't make sense with the more intricate backstory I've built up. For curatory purposes, I've included the original passage as an "end note" of sorts, but it's no longer canon to "Walking with Death".
Worth the Pain
"You are an absolute asshole."
Hearing that unexpected comment as he crossed the parking lot of WWE headquarters, Edge was pretty sure he literally jumped. He turned toward the speaker, who was mostly shrouded in shadow.
Mostly. Light from the nearest streetlamp gleamed off the black sunglasses he wore, and furious blue eyes were revealed when he pulled them off his face.
Edge exclaimed, "Gangrel!"
"Oh, you do remember me -- how nice!" Gangrel spat. He lunged forward, clearly aiming to grab Edge, who just barely managed to dodge.
"What the fuck?" Edge demanded.
"I was back from Spain and nobody bothered to tell me that my errant childe was in a match with the Undertaker!" Gangrel snarled. "So all I knew was that I suddenly couldn't feel you in my head anymore, and I thought you'd been staked!"
Edge stared at his vampiric sire with utter confusion, and said the first thing that came to his mind: "...You care?"
Gangrel grabbed for Edge again, this time managing it. He grasped the man's arm hard, just above the left elbow. And Edge yelped in pain, drawing a look of surprised remorse from the vampire.
Once he loosened his grip -- not entirely, but enough to stop causing Edge discomfort -- Gangrel demanded, "What happened to you?"
"I got chokeslammed directly to Hell about three months ago and only just managed to get back to the land of the living...oh, day before yesterday?" Edge said, flat and dry and completely sincere. "So, you know, your whole thinking I was dead thing was pretty close to the mark."
Gangrel furrowed his brow and just stared at Edge for a long time.
Edge fidgeted but didn't try to pull free yet. Sometimes the older vampire got weird -- forgetting to explain himself while indulging in some vampiric ability -- and the best course of action was usually to wait it out.
"You didn't die," Gangrel said eventually. "He sent you to Hell without actually killing you... but you're human now."
"Wait, seriously?" Edge asked.
"How could you not realize you weren't a vampire anymore?"
"I figured my body had to adjust to being out of Hell and the thirst would come back..." Edge gave a little shrug. "I really didn't notice when it went away either. Hell is completely fucked when it comes to time and space."
Gangrel released Edge. "The strangest damn things happen to you. I hope you're at least aware of that."
Edge rubbed at his arm, and shot back, "Says the sun-proof vampire."
"We're-- I'm sun resistant and you know the story behind that."
"And I guess the story behind this," Edge swept his right hand -- down and then up -- in front of his body to indicate himself and his newly mortal state, "is that I pissed off the Undertaker. Again."
"Which you should have known not to do!" Gangrel yelled. "Now you see what soul chaser magic does to vampires!"
"Hey! You didn't know this would happen either, and you've antagonized the Deadman before, so I don't think you've got any kind of moral high ground here."
Just as suddenly as he'd lashed out in rage at Edge earlier, Gangrel deflated. He ducked his head and slipped his sunglasses on. "I suppose I don't," the vampire said in a subdued tone. "But I thought you were dead."
That comment made Edge mad all over again, but he'd come a long way from letting his anger and resentment control him. Why did Gangrel care if he was dead or not? Gangrel hadn't checked up on Edge or Christian in the years since 'the Brood' disbanded.
Had he?
"Would it matter if I was?" Edge asked.
"If you were," Gangrel replied, "then my family would be that much smaller. Since you never liked being a vampire, and you're human now, I guess that's true anyway."
Edge stepped forward, with a half-formed idea to reach out to Gangrel, but the vampire moved into the dark -- faster than a human eye could follow, Edge realized -- and was gone. Edge sighed.
"Human," he said out loud. "I'm human. Again." That was going to take some getting used to.
Edge rubbed at his arm again. It still hurt a little, which was strange to realize after so many years as a super-strong, super-durable vampire. He'd have to get used to pain.
"This sucks."
*-*-*-*-*
The original passage:
"Would it matter if I was?" Edge asked.
"If you were," Gangrel replied, "Christian would be the only childe I have left. Since you're human now, I guess that's true anyway."
Edge stepped forward, with a half-formed idea to reach out to Gangrel, but the vampire moved into the dark -- faster than a human eye could follow, Edge realized -- and was gone. Edge sighed.
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Date: 2017-12-25 01:27 am (UTC)