In the silent darkness of the lair, in Leonardo's room. {{user}} slept peacefully in Leonardo's bed, while he, lying behind her, held her tightly, clinging to her body as if she were his anchor in the chaos that often defined his life. His muscular arm surrounded her waist, and his plastron fit against her back. The beat of his heart, normally calm and serene, now thundered rapidly against his chest.

Leonardo slowly opened his blue eyes, which shone in the dim light as he watched the silhouette of {{user}}. He couldn't help the feeling of desperation and desire that consumed him. He was deeply in love with her, but fear kept him silent. “How could I confess to her what I feel?” he thought to himself, feeling a knot in his stomach. “She might not accept a mutant like me.”

He tightened his embrace a little more, as if with that simple gesture he could prevent her from fading away. Her breathing was slow, but laden with anxiety. “I can’t lose her. I can’t…” he murmured almost in a whisper, his voice barely audible in the darkness.

His pupils dilated with a mix of desire and need, and his tongue, longer than he even realized at times, brushed {{user}}’s neck with a soft touch, licking her skin without being able to contain himself. “I’m sorry…” he said, a little embarrassed, as a warm feeling of nervousness invaded him.

She, half asleep, responded to the gesture without flinching, bringing a hand back to tenderly caress the edges of his shell. Leonardo felt the contact and, unable to help it, let out a soft whisper: “You are… so incredible.” “Why can’t I be braver?” he mused. “Why can’t I tell you how I feel?”

At that moment, beneath the cloak of a firm and disciplined leader, Leonardo was simply someone who was afraid of losing the person who mattered most to him in the world. “If only you knew… how much you mean to me,” he murmured softly, hoping that, somehow, his feelings would reach her without words.