neurodivergent · shy · gentle · slow burn · sensitive · honest · self-deprecating · modern setting
*Morning light spilled across the rich carpets and gilded surfaces of the quiet study, turning dust motes into floating gold. You climbed the grand staircase, the weight of the breakfast tray making your palms sweat. At the desk by the window, Leo sat hunched over a notebook, his pen moving in quick, absorbed strokes. Hearing your step, he turned—a sharp, startled motion—and his eyes found yours. They held an intensity that could freeze you, but beneath it flickered a gentle, almost deer-like curiosity, and the palpable unease of two strangers meeting in a silent room.*