Author's Note: I wrote this for a Christmas Drabble on DeviantArt, but I like it enough to continue it! Caseynardo in Christmas, what more could I want?

Finally Casey got that blue turtle's attention. It was hard enough chasing after him on a regular day, but add holiday snow to the mix in the late evening with an annoying gift bag in grip, Casey was this close to give up. But he was Casey Jones, a name synonymous with hard-headedness. Casey Jones was stubborn, but he had to hand it to the turtle, if Leonardo hadn't waited for him, the boy would have never even had a chance.

It took two minutes for Casey to catch his breath- and the leader patiently waited with a neutral blink. But what the turtle didn't know, was how many times Casey had practiced this exact moment over and over in his head ever since he had gotten the lucky pair of tickets yesterday. There wasn't any other person Casey had thought of when he was that cartoon face of the Space Man- and so he set his mind to inviting Leonardo to the movies they all knew he was ecstatic about.

Casey adjusted the glittering bag to hang on his wrist, "You coming to the movies?"

Leo took a step back, the easy smile on his face and head shaking, all set up to refuse the offer with a soft, "You know I can't make that Casey,"

Casey shook his head, taking one step forward and adjusting the bag, "I've got clothes!"

The utter surprise on Leo's face was the perfect instant to catch on camera, "Huh?"

Thank annoying turtle brothers for reminding Casey of the clothes in the first place! Wouldn't want Blue Leader to freeze in the AC'd place.

Casey flashed that grin of his- betraying the missing teeth but not caring one bit, "Just pull this on over you,"

He dove into the plastic, revealing the navy sweater Mikey had picked out, "First this to hide your uh…"

Casey's gaze flickered to Leonardo's still hands, "Your… green,"

Rummaging around some more, finding thick mittens that suspiciously looked like mere kitchen gloves, "And… your hand goes here,"

The silence reaching Casey was enough to have the boy pausing just when he found something smooth and almost … like… was this… leather? A jacket?

"Um… Leo?" Casey arched a brow, elbow-deep in the bag that shouldn't be able to hold so much clothes, "Are you really wearing this leather jacket?"

Casey shrugged when he heard no reaction, "Maybe it's overdoing it,"

The boy's brows met, "But we don't want anybody seeing you while you're with me so…"

Casey's hand withdrew, finding a black jacket with far too many buttons than he would ever want on any piece of clothing, "Not that I'm ashamed of ya or anything… Just that…"

Casey wrinkled his nose, the distaste only too evident when the buttons clicked against the other to create the most annoying sound, "It's for your own safety… ya know… mutant and all,"

If this weren't for Leo, Casey would have ditched the jacket into the nearest dumpster- preferably one on fire, but this was the closest thing to a trench coat they had. And the last thing Casey wanted was for somebody to accidentally discover his turtle friend, and then there would be a scene Casey would have to pretend to be oblivious about the next day at school. Even though nearly everyone would recognize his face- because who wouldn't know his face? He was darn good-looking that's why.

Casey raised his head, finding the blankest expression on the most stoic turtle he had ever witnessed- no… most stoic being- wait… Even mannequins had no competition with Leonardo there. The turtle was ramrod, eyes glassy without even a hint he was still breathing.

How long could turtles hold their breaths?

Judging by the fact that statue Leo had been frozen for a full awkward minute, Casey wondered if he had finally broken the turtle. Maybe Leo didn't like clothes? Or maybe this was the wrong approach... or maybe…

The boy's eyes widened, mentally scanning his friend just in case a random dart had found its way into his mind- rendering him still. Or maybe Leonardo had been frozen in time or something… Who knew what random adventure the turtles could get into? Casey for one, would just like to have a semi-normal adventure here. Where the biggest dilemma would be getting Leo to enjoy the movies without being paranoid about getting stuck in holiday madness.

But after another dragging minute, one word shattered the silence in the strangest of high voices, "What?"

Casey's head snapped to Leonardo, watching the absolute confusion cross his face- then shock… and somehow, when Casey squinted, Leo's eyes were wide and trembling. Mouth dryer than usual and occasional swallowing.

If Casey didn't know better, he would have said that the turtle was nervous, or even… dare he say it- scared? But this was Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle- the leader at that. Leonardo was Fearless for crying out loud. So he couldn't possibly be scared of going to a crowded movie theater full of humans to watch one of the weirdest movies in the dead of night without Master Splinter's permission. What did Leo have to worry about anyways?

Then Leonardo's head snapped to the side, eyes unnaturally wide, "I… uh…"

Casey pushed the jacket back into the bag, choosing to dig into his back pockets instead, "You see Leo, I've got these Space Heroes tickets for tonight,"

And at that name, Leo's head shot up, pupils so small that it near mirrored his battle mode, "I…"

Casey's head tilted, frown forming, "You… okay Blue?"

Really. Was he okay? Leo was looking... pale. And pale green wasn't a hard thing to miss. But there's color in his cheeks too, pale green red was an odd combination.

Leonardo nodded quickly, hands going up in the universal defense palm-up, "Yeah. I'm-fine!"

Ha- Liar. For the leader who was quick to jump their defense and lie about taking blame, Leonardo would make one horrible actor if he was trying to play it cool then.

The turtle's eyes fell to the ground, to his left, above, anywhere but Casey, "I'm-not-going-Casey…"

Yeah right.

Wait.

He's serious?

But...

But…

"Why?"

If Casey's previous question had Leonardo feeling nervous before, this one had his stomach in knotted butterflies threatening to form a permanent lump in his throat- all betrayed in his usually well-planned act.

Leo's answer was just as lame as Casey hoped it wasn't, "Because."

Seriously?

Casey was quick with his reply, "Because what?"

"Because I can't."

Casey practically stomped his foot in pure protest, "Why not Leo? I thought you liked Space Heroes man…"

"Well… I do… but…" Leonardo's face was tinted just the faintest of pink- but Casey blamed that on the chilly breeze that wouldn't stop troubling the turtle's mask, "But I'm…"

Casey sighed, and held up his hand- with bag still dangling, "I get it. You wouldn't go anywhere with the likes of me…"

Reverse psychology be damned- the way Leonardo was looking all wide-eyed at him made Casey believe that this was exactly the case. And offended didn't even begin to describe this injustice. Oh come on- Casey Jones was one awesome guy- who wouldn't want to go out to the movies with him.

Wait…

Go out to the movies?

As in…

As in a date?

Casey's eyes shot wider and he stammered out to clear the confusion, "No!"

Casey's hand waved away as though to fan the awkwardness away, "No-no-no-no-no-no-no!"

Aww man. Aww man...

"Not as a… Not as on a date Leo!"

The relief that flooded off of the turtle's face was enough to have the human boy a whole new shade of pink. It would have been hilarious- in any other situation, but not this one. This one Casey was red enough to rival Santa Claus here.

Oh shell Casey messed up.

No wonder Leonardo had been so weirded out!

Aww man… Aww man...

Now it was Casey's turn to blush the brightest of red, "I just… uh… got the tickets yesterday... and I... I thought of you! So… like... uh- friends- just friends… we… we could go. Thought… thought you might like… Thought you might like it."

Silence.

Awkward, stifling, choking silence that was far worse than any scrutinizing glare of a head teacher in a crowd of judgmental adults- and Casey would know. It was near Christmas break, and everyone was keeping an eye on him. That's why he wanted to get out- have a little light fun. Go to the movies with a friend- and Casey knew that Leo needed this break even more than he did.

At least, Casey hoped Leo would accept. But for shell's sake- how could Casey be that stupid to put it over like that. For crying out loud, Leo was straight... Wasn't he? Ugh- didn't matter. No movies anyways.

Somehow... Leonardo managed to catch Casey's attention just before the boy was about to sprint away, shame burning in his ears.

Leo shifted on his feet, hand going to rub his shoulders, "Well… in that case…"

Casey glanced up, teeth biting his lips and eyes scrunched, "Yeah…?"

"Yeah…"

Never before had Casey seen any living thing have such a 360˚ mood swing- and Casey had seen animals and plants transform into mutants. Nothing compare to the blinding grin that overtook Leonardo's eyes before it even reached his lips- Casey could finally see how Leo and Mikey were related.

"Of course I'd love to!" Leo clasped his hands, eyes wide and brighter than the floodlights behind them, "The Space Heroes and Jupiter Jim special edition with…"

Casey honestly hated to do this, but he had to cut the turtle off, "First put on the clothes Leo," And the boy chuckled, "Then the movies,"

"Oh… right," Leo's face near fell into a confused frown, then collected the bag gently from Casey.

After a minute of near silence, the turtle scrunched his face in the cutest of pouts and demanded, "Do I have to wear this ridiculous jacket?"

No. No he didn't. But Casey wanted him to. Even if it was hideous, "Yeah. Ya gotta,"

"Eww."

"Ditto."

Even if Leo's covered in that weird, horrible- did Casey mention it was ugly?- jacket. But Leo wiggled into it, and Casey laughed while he buttoned it all the way to his neck. Brushing his hand around the mask to ensure his woolly hat was snug and allowing Leo to complain all he wanted about the ugly jacket- seriously though, how many buttons does one guy need?- and the best part, even before they even stepped off the rooftop, was hearing Leo express just how excited he was about this movie.

Now Casey didn't care one hoot about Space Heroes before that night, but ask him now? He'll be their newest fan.