by a loose thread;

“Woah, when did you get that?”

“Who did this to you?”

“How many time have I told you to be more careful?”

“You’re saying this was an accident?”

“What a shiner!”

“If you look like this, I’d hate to see the other guy.”

“I’m not buying it, you don’t walk into a door and get a bruise like that!”

“Does it hurt when I touch it?”

“Let me kiss it better.”

“If you don’t rest, you won’t heal.”

“Another fight?”

“What happened to your face?”

“I don’t think your arm is meant to bend like that…”

“Let’s get you to bed.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“Why are you so calm about this?”

“You’re bleeding!”

“What are friends for, ey?”

“So, instead of helping you, they ran off the moment they saw what was happening?”

“You need to look where you’re going.”

“I’m not accusing anyone, I’m just saying it looks suspicious.”

“Do you want to tell me what really happened?”

“Don’t move! You’ll faint!”

“I’ve got some bandages, wait a sec.”

“You’re the clumsiest person I know.”

“I won’t let you be on your own, not when you’re like this.”

“How could you be so careless?”

“I can’t even look at you, you promised not to get into any more fights!”

(  dialogue  prompts  taken  from  thunderbolts*  (2025),  directed  by  jake schreier.  feel  free  to  edit  and  change  as  you  seem  fit.  ) 

❛ there is something wrong with me. an emptiness. ❜

❛ you weren’t listening to me. it’s like your mind is somewhere else. ❜

❛ do you think i like taking orders? ❜

❛ you shoot, i dodge. ❜

❛ you guys can never aim for shit. ❜

❛ can you please just say it normal? ❜

❛ how long has it been, huh? a year? ❜

❛ so you… you feel fulfilled? ❜

❛ look around you. i’m miserable. ❜

❛ the light inside you is dim even by eastern european standards. ❜

❛ i've just been wondering, you know, like, what… is the point? in any of this? ❜

❛ the point of work is fame and fortune. fortune buys friends, and love, and a lot of cool clothes. ❜

❛ why do you have this photo out? ❜

❛ we were so bad. ❜

❛ you were happy. ❜

❛ i’ll make you something. ❜

❛ yeah, this just isn’t working for me anymore. ❜

❛ i need you to follow the target inside and find out what she intends to steal. ❜

❛ you’re not even my target. ❜

❛ i’m not here for you. ❜

❛ i know who you are and what you’re doing. ❜

❛ what am i doing? ❜

❛ you’re working me. you’re trying to get me on your side. ❜

❛ you say you know who i am, so you know my story. and you know i didn’t have a choice who i worked for. but you do. ❜

❛ it’s my business card. in case you need some help or you wanna share some secret hidden evidence. ❜

❛ i’m not sure what’s happening here, but you’re all exhausting and my job is done, so... ❜

❛ god only knows the blood on your hands. ❜

❛ pretty ludicrous coming from the dimestore captain america. ❜

❛ that was funny. thank you. we needed that. ❜

❛ it was getting so tense in here for a second. ❜

❛ all right, um… tie yourselves up. ❜

❛ next time, why don’t you just text me like a normal person? ❜

❛ we don’t need to go rogue in the darkness, or whatever you people do. ❜

❛ what exactly are we looking for? ❜

❛ we’re looking for not stupid questions. ❜

❛ hey. didn’t think you’d come back. thanks. ❜

❛ are you hurt? ❜

❛ no, i’m fine. i’m fine. ❜

❛ you do not seem fine. ❜

❛ yeah, well, we’ve only just met. this is… this is how i am. ❜

❛ well, you guys should just go without me. it’ll be easier. ❜

❛ we all feel like shit sometimes. and loneliness, i get that. and that that darkness gets... pretty enticing. ❜

❛ you shove it way down. you just... push it down. ❜

❛ let’s just stick together until we make it to the surface, and after that, you can start a fight with a super soldier. get yourself killed. i don’t care. ❜

❛ so, none of us fly? what, do we all just punch and shoot? ❜

❛ you do not want to start the whole sob story game. i win. ❜

❛ well, you were just a kid, so… ❜

❛ i just think it might be nice to know that you didn’t really know any better. ❜

❛ cucumber, cucumber, cucumber. ❜

❛ growing up, somebody told me that you can stop a sneeze if you confuse your brain. i always just yelled “cucumber.” ❜

❛ you’re the boss now? cute. ❜

❛ anyone else have any pointless childhood stories to tell? ❜

❛ i will fight. you stay behind me. ❜

❛ i’ve always had these episodes since i was a kid. there’s a high, then there’s a big low, and then my memory just goes blank. ❜

❛ you were right, she definitely wants us dead. ❜

❛ this has the makings of a team that can raise to glory. a team that can bring light from the darkness. a team of heroes that can be on the wheaties box and have little kiddie toy… ❜

❛ let’s just forget about them, and let’s focus on you. and how perfect you are. ❜

❛ isn’t that what you want? to be accepted? to be chosen? ❜

❛ no one else sees it, but i do. and i think maybe your past is what makes you so perfect. ❜

❛ look, i’ve been where you are. you can run, but it doesn’t go away. sooner or later it catches up to you, and when it does, it’s too late. so you can either do something about it now, or live with it forever. ❜

❛ you want to be good? or do you want to be somebody who changes the world? ❜

❛ you can do anything. ❜

❛ i'm the only one who knows what your true potential is. and it’s limitless. ❜

❛ i don’t wanna hurt you guys. why don’t you just turn yourselves in? ❜

❛ you can trust me. i know you. ❜

❛ they’re not a threat to me, so why do i need to kill them? ❜

❛ there is no “us.” there is no “we.” ❜

❛ you’re not a hero. you’re not even a good person. ❜

❛ why would a god take orders from anyone at all? ❜

❛ i’m starting to think maybe you don’t know what i am. or what i’m capable of. ❜

❛ i'm not afraid of you. ❜

❛ well, then, chase me forever. ❜

❛ If you cared, you would have called. ❜

❛ i’m sorry. i don’t know how to do this. i’m not good at it. ❜

❛ i didn’t think you wanted me. ❜

❛ i’m late, but i’m… i’m here now. ❜

❛ all i do is sit and look at my phone and think of all the terrible things that i’ve done. ❜

❛ when i look at you, i don’t see your mistakes. ❜

❛ aren’t you tired of fighting? let me help you. ❜

❛ you can’t outrun the emptiness. ❜

❛ it’s what you said. we’re all alone. all of us. ❜

❛ i have these good days, you know? where i feel invincible. but then there are a lot of bad days when i remember that nothing matters, you know? ❜

❛ so you’re just gonna sit here and let it take over? ❜

❛ well, there’s no use in fighting it. ❜

❛ at least i found a nice room. the other rooms are much worse. ❜

❛ you can’t stuff it down. you can’t hold it in all alone. no one can. we have to let it out. ❜

❛ even if it doesn’t make the emptiness go away, i promise you it will feel lighter. ❜

❛ we can find a way out of here together. will you try and leave here with me? ❜

❛ there’s no death here. the pain only gets worse. ❜

❛ i have a great past, so i’m totally fine. ❜

❛ the most shameful thing of all was thinking you could be anything more than nothing. ❜

❛ wait. you think they care about you? you don’t matter. to anyone. ❜

❛ i’m stronger than you. ❜

❛ you thought you were gonna be some great man? some savior? you can’t even save yourself. ❜

❛ we will always be alone. ❜

❛ i’m here. ❜

❛ it will always be just us. ❜

❛ we’re losing credibility. which we had very little to begin with. ❜

❛ we’re running out of space? It’s impossible. this building is enormous. ❜

Blood oozes from the fresh wound when the body collapses to his feet, and although he would love to sing words of praise to the wielder of the blade, there is no time. The way she crumbles is much like stubborn porcelain — not all at once, but piece by piece.

"Jimin—" The words drag like sand, brittle and rough, carrying the weight of a name he rarely speaks except in moments that demand it. He catches her mid-fall, arms curling around her slim frame with a speed that defies a human's perception, sliding beneath her shoulders and legs to lift her effortlessly. "You did well. Let me take care of you now." Words he would never voice in her moments of clarity press against her temple, a quiet promise as old as time itself.

Hours pass — or maybe only minutes — before the world resumes. They wind up in Baekhyun's apartment, where dim light from the fireplace flickers across familiar walls lined with books, the scent of antiseptic mingling. He kneels beside her, pressing a cloth against her damp forehead, a careful hand tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You need this..." Baekhyun says quietly, almost afraid of causing disturbance, tilting her head just enough to feed her the antidote. His touch is firm but gentle, an anchor in the haze of her fatigue. He doesn't speak again right away, just ensures she’s steady, that her pulse has returned to a calmer rhythm.

When he finally does, it is quiet, almost too quiet for the storm they've just survived. "You pushed too far," he says, voice low, edged with both admonition and something softer he rarely allows. "I told you, your pride will be the death of you." His words are not meant to sting, but they are a warning — a weighed one, though he suspects she is aware.

It’s the first thing she’d noticed. No more screeching, no more claws scraping along concrete, only the muted crackle of a fire somewhere nearby, the faint rustle of fabric shifting with breath. For a moment, she wonders if she’s dead. The weightlessness in her body could almost pass for it, her limbs too heavy to move and her chest still raw from the venom’s fire. But then she brings herself to inhale and the air doesn’t taste of iron anymore.

The antidote must’ve worked. She can feel it threading through her veins, cooling the burn, and mending what the poison tried to hollow out. Her strength hadn’t returned yet, not fully. Each muscle feels waterlogged, fragile, like porcelain just beginning to set after the kiln.

Her eyes flutter open to dim light, flickering off walls she recognizes all too well. Bookshelves lined in neat rows, the faint scent of antiseptic mixed with smoke. Home, or as close to home as Baekhyun ever lets himself have.

And then she sees him.

Baekhyun is slumped in a chair by her bedside, chin tilted slightly forward, his posture too rigid even in sleep. His arms are folded loosely, but not carelessly. She thinks it’s funny, that even when unconscious, he’s still guarding the room. Guarding her. A half-empty vial of antidote glints on the table beside him, the glass catching the stray light.

Something soft and unfamiliar tugs at her chest, loosening the coil she always keeps wound tight around her. She almost laughs at it, that someone like him would let exhaustion claim him here, in this way. Watching over her until sleep dragged him under.

Her hand moves before she thinks better of it, reaching past the blanket to touch him. Her fingers brush against his sleeve, her touch as light as ash, careful not to wake him. The fabric is warm despite the cool of his skin, comforting in a way she didn’t quite expect.

[ 01. ] sender takes receiver down to the ground during a fight. [ 02. ] sender leaves scratches / bruises on receiver's body. [ 03. ] sender cruelly applies pressure to receiver's [ wound / bruise ]. [ 04. ] sender lightly trails a sharp knife across receiver's cheek. [ 05. ] sender wraps a hand around receiver's neck & cuts off their oxygen. [ 06. ] after a long - winded chase, sender finally corners receiver. [ 07. ] sender holds a knife to receiver's throat, blade nicking their skin. [ 08. ] sender pushes receiver into a wall & pins them there. [ 09. ] sender has poisoned receiver's [ drink / food ]. [ 10. ] sender aims a loaded gun at receiver, cocking the hammer. [ 11. ] sender suddenly throws a punch at receiver during a confrontation. [ 12. ] sender hurls an item across the room at receiver's head. [ 13. ] sender forcefully pushes receiver's head underwater. [ 14. ] sender unexpectedly arrives at receiver's home covered in blood & bruises. [ 15. ] sender pleads for receiver to help them with hiding a body. [ 16. ] sender is knocked out during a fight, & wakes up in receiver's home. [ 17. ] sender gently dabs the blood from receiver's face with a wet cloth. [ 18. ] sender crafts a tourniquet from their own clothes to stop receiver's bleeding. [ 19. ] after severely wounding receiver, sender approaches them menacingly. [ 20. ] sender takes receiver by the throat & lifts them off the floor. [ 21. ] sender licks receiver's blood from their fingers. [ 22. ] sender viciously bites receiver during a struggle. [ 23. ] sender draws receiver's blood for the first time. [ 24 ] sender grabs receiver's hair, forcing their bloodied face up to look at them. [ 25. ] sender straddles receiver to pin them to the floor.

"I   dare   you   to   try."

"Do   you   always   get   close?"

"You’re   pushing   my   limits."

"Stop   looking   at   me   like   that."

"I’m   losing   control   here."

"You   have   no   idea,   do   you?"

"I   can’t   resist   you   anymore."

"Stay   back,   or   don’t."

"I   know   what   you   want."

"This   is   getting   dangerous   now."

"You’re   too   tempting   for   me."

"I   shouldn’t   want   this,   but…"

"I   don’t   play   fair,   remember?"

"Careful,   you’re   testing   me."

"You’re   just   making   it   worse."

"You’re   too   close   for   comfort."

"Do   you   always   push   buttons?"

"Stop   before   I   kiss   you."

"You’re   making   it   too   hard."

"I   can’t   stop   thinking   about   you."

"I   want   you   too   much."

"You   know   exactly   what   you’re   doing."

"I’m   not   playing   games   here."

"You’ve   crossed   the   line   now."

"Keep   pushing,   and   you’ll   regret   it."

"This   is   dangerous,   isn’t   it?"

"I’m   trying   not   to   care."

"Don’t   make   me   regret   this."

"You’re   playing   with   fire."

"You   don’t   know   what’s   coming."

"I   shouldn’t   be   this   close."

"We’re   getting   dangerously   close   now."

"I   can   feel   the   heat."

"Don’t   test   me   right   now."

"I   want   you   too   badly."

"Don’t   make   me   chase   you."

"You’re   distracting   me,   you   know."

"I   won’t   fall   for   this."

"I   want   you,   but…"

"What   do   you   want   from   me?"

"I’ll   never   give   in."

"I’m   trying   not   to   care."

"You’re   playing   with   my   patience."

"Don’t   make   this   harder,   please."

"I   can’t   stop   this   feeling."

"I’m   already   in   too   deep."

"You   won’t   walk   away   unscathed."

"You’re   walking   a   fine   line."

"I’m   trying   to   stay   calm."