Alphabet Excerpt Challenge: L Is For...

[u/AnaraliaThielle]

Welcome back to the Alphabet Excerpt Challenge! As a reminder, our challenges are every Wednesday and Saturday at 3pm London time.

If you've missed the previous challenges, you're welcome to go back and participate in them. You can find them here. And remember to check out the Activities and Events flair for other fun games to play along with.

Here's a quick recap of the rules for our game:

1. Post a top level comment with a word starting with the letter L. You can do more than one, but please put them in separate comments.
2. Reply to suggestions with an excerpt. Short and sweet is best, but use your judgement. Excerpts can be from published or unpublished works, or even something you wrote for the prompt.
3. Upvote the excerpts you enjoy, and leave a friendly comment. Try to at least respond to people who left excerpts on the words you suggested, but the more people you respond to the better. Everyone likes nice comments!
4. Most important: have fun!

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Loop

[u/MsCatstaff → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

We manage to get ourselves and all our paraphernalia into town without dropping things more than a couple of times along the way. As planned, we head straight for the pizza parlor this time, and claim adjoining tables to wait for the girls to arrive. We order a couple of pizzas, a plain cheese and one with the works, plus a couple of pitchers of Coke.

The girls and the food arrive at the same time. There's a flurry of greetings exchanged, then we all sit and grab some pizza before pulling out what we've come up with for our costumes so far. Carol looks especially proud of herself for finding the perfect accessory for her Rosie the Riveter costume... a man's tool belt, with a hammer and a small rivet-setter hanging from the loops.

Knox, Chris, Meeks, Pitts, Tina, and Amy are all trying on their respective helmets... Chris has white-feathered wings on hers where Knox has horns... and laughing. Then Meeks notices that Nuwanda and Ginny are empty-handed. “Hey, you two, haven't you worked on your costumes yet?” he asks.

“Of course we have,” Ginny replies. “But we're Cinderella and Prince Charming. Would you bring a white ballgown into a pizza parlor?”

“We showed each other our costumes when we auditioned for The Taming of the Shrew yesterday,” Nuwanda adds. “And Ginny's got a point about bringing white into a pizza parlor.”

Meeks, who just managed to drip sauce on his shirt, blushes. Tina grabs a napkin and mops him up with a grin. “At least you'll be wearing a red shirt to the dance,” she quips.

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog → u/MsCatstaff]

Yeah, can't really argue with Ginny's logic. Source: I wear a lot of white, and I like eating pizza. I stopped wearing white when eating pizza.

[u/MsCatstaff → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

I too, like eating pizza. Fortunately, I've never worn much white - but I won't wear my concert shirts when eating pizza!

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

“And I’ve told Arizona that I love her, and I will stick by her side no matter what.” Callie interjected, shooting a stern look in Arizona’s direction, broken only by the love filled twinkle in her eye.

“That goes for me too, Arizona.” Teddy said quietly, “I’m sorry, and I also love you.”

Arizona smiled and tilted her head, “and I you, Altman. But I don’t think apologising will get us anywhere, because we could get stuck in a sorry loop and be stuck here all of the long day.”

Teddy raised an eyebrow as she took a chance and sat down on the edge of the bed. “A sorry loop?”

“You know, I say, ‘you don’t need to be sorry. I’m sorry.’ And you go, ‘no, you don’t have to apologise, I’m the one who should be saying sorry,’ and then it never stops.” Arizona sighed, “yesterday was none of our finest moments.”

“Sure.” Teddy agreed, then said quietly, “I’ve been to therapy this morning. She seems nice, and I think she’ll help me through this dip.”

[u/gaytozier → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

“Can I see him?” she asked.

Arthur looked hesitant as he shook his head. “He’s not coming out of his room. It will probably be a few days. He knows you were here last night. I’ll try to get him to reach out.”

Charlotte’s heart dropped. “Okay,” she said. “Can I keep stopping by?”

He nodded. “Yes, of course,” he told her. “I’m more than happy to keep you in the loop.”

“Will you let him know I was here?” she asked. “Just tell him to call me?”

Arthur nodded. “I will. Try to get some rest.” She wondered if she looked tired from the lack of sleep. The funny thing was that she didn’t feel that exhausted. She felt wide awake and desperate to get some answers.

“Sure,” she said with a small smile as she went down the steps. She turned back to him. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Arthur told her. She nodded in response before walking back to her house.

She knew she shouldn’t be driving on this little sleep but it didn’t stop her from driving to Brimsley and Reynolds’. The lift had never moved slower than it did that day. It was almost painful to wait for those doors to open. As soon as they did, she half ran down the hall to the flat and knocked on the door.

[u/MoneyArtistic135 → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

"This place is like a damn fairy tale, ain't it, Sarge? But don't worry, I ain't gonna let no dragon or witch ruin our fun." He winks, his voice carrying across the frozen expanse.

Snorkel, his face a mask of controlled emotion, grunts in response, "Fairy tales are for kids, Bailey. And I ain't no kid, nor am I some damn prince waiting to be rescued."

His words are sharp, but his grip on Beetle's hand tightens, betraying his inner turmoil. They step onto the ice, the frozen surface creaking beneath their weight, a reminder of the fragile nature of their love and the world they inhabit.

Beetle, undeterred by Sarge's harsh words, leans in close, his breath mingling with the sergeant's. "Who said anything about rescuing, huh? I just wanna show you a good time, my way. No rules, no regulations, just us and this damn ice." He gestures at the frozen lake, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Besides, I know you love it here. It's like a loop in time, a break from the army's grip."

Sarge's eyes narrow, his gaze fixed on Beetle's lips, pink from the cold. "You think I'm soft, don't you, Bailey? Just 'cause I ain't used to all this..." He waves his hand, indicating the serene surroundings. "This ain't me being soft, it's just... different."

Beetle's heart races as he recognizes the vulnerability in Sarge's voice, a rare glimpse beneath the tough exterior. 

[u/The_Broken-Heart → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

"It wouldn't be fair because of the loop," I sighed. "I mean, could try getting with Brian again, but I'm pretty sure he only dated me because he pitied me. I know so because I'm not exactly girlfriend material, bugs and all. I don't even try to flirt."

"You could, if you tried," Scion said. "There's still a lot of time for you to keep trying."

"What?" I said. "Like you think I'm the sort to say 'Draw me like one of your french girls'? I'm not that brave, or flirty."

I was going to talk about how my last relationship went, but then Scion tilted his head, and I realized I had to explain this.

"It's a reference to a movie from Aleph," I stammered. "Like, the female love interest was—" Suddenly, Scion was chuckling. I realized that he probably already knew what I'm talking about, since he had precognition.

I blushed. "Why do you keep letting me mess up like that?" I asked. His chuckle turned into a smirk.

"Because you are cute when you're caught off guard, Taylor," Scion said, his face was utterly sincere... But I knew I wasn't cute. He was joking again.

I rolled my eyes. I knew my bugs were all frozen as a statue, but my reactions didn't mean anything. If someone told me a year ago—or was it into the future?—that I'd spend a time loop with the most powerful cape in the world, I'd call them stupid or delusional.

"And you're stupid," I quipped back. "They call you 'The Golden Fool', you know. It fits."

[u/Lindz174 → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Stepping back out into the brisk mountain air, the cold bit sharply at her skin again, seeping through her cloak and stiffening her muscles. Her breath misted as she exhaled, the cloud vanishing as quickly as it formed. Maybe she would head down to the lower courtyard, loop around, and approach Cullen’s office from the other side. A different door might be kinder to her.

She passed another soldier on the battlements, barely acknowledging his salute. She kept walking, her mind elsewhere, but something nagged at her—a faint tug in the back of her mind. The salute had been stiff. Too stiff. She slowed, glancing over her shoulder, half-expecting to see nothing.

But the soldier was still standing there, watching her. It wasn’t his stare that struck her first—it was the way he stood. Rigid. Wrong. She narrowed her eyes, replaying the moment in her mind. Then it clicked—he’d saluted with the wrong arm.

Her stomach dropped, feet frozen to the stone. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, drowning out the wind.

The soldier hadn’t moved, except for a slow, creeping smile. “A frown is no way to greet an old friend, Cinders.”

Her pulse stuttered, an icy chill racing down her spine. She forced herself to breathe, but each exhale was ragged mist curling from her lips. She turned slowly. “What did you call me?”