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It wasn’t long after she had come out when Casey had started asking questions. Not like super weird questions and never in front of Splinter, which she was incredibly grateful for.
They’d be out on patrol — with everyone there — and Casey would suddenly blurt something like: “Leo, how’d ya know you were a girl?” or “Hey, do you think there are like… other genders or something?”
And listen, Leo is all for talking about her thoughts and opinions on gender. Especially with the newfound euphoria that came with loving and talking about her identity. However, it wasn’t really a conversation she wanted to have in the middle of patrol… or with everyone. Not that she minded talking about it with her brothers or April! Leo just really didn’t want the topic to become their new group bonding conversation or something.
Honestly, sometimes she just wanted to exist without feeling like she had to justify her feelings to everyone.
Not that Casey was intentionally trying to make her feel that way! He was probably just curious. (It never crossed her mind that maybe Casey was trying to figure things out and she was the closest person to ask about it)
So, during patrol, Leo would always respond with, “I’d love to talk about this Casey, but after patrol okay?” and he would nod.
But then he always left immediately after patrol ended or he would go hang with Raph or April or Mikey. Sometimes Donnie, but they were still in that weird phase of pretending to hate each other, so that was more rare.
It seemed like he purposefully avoided the conversation outside of patrolling; which was so frustrating because it’s not like she told him no!
Anyways, that’s how Leo ended up standing outside on Casey’s fire exit at 1 in the morning. Because well… if he wasn’t going to bring the conversation to her, she was going to bring the conversation to him.
Did she ask Raph for Casey’s address specifically for this? Yes, she did. Did she tell Raph why? Nope. Did she inform Casey, or literally anyone, beforehand that she was going over? Absolutely not. Can’t escape a conversation if it comes actually knocking at your window! And maybe that was a little weird but hell, she lives with Mikey and some of that weirdness has to rub off on her sometimes.
It took 3 knocks for Casey to finally open the window.
“Leo?” He squinted at her, as if the lamp posts below them were too bright.
“Did I wake you up?”
“Uhh, no. No, not at all,” Okay, well she definitely woke him up. But in her defense, Leo just kind of assumed he didn’t go to school and slept during the day. Might as well make it worth it, he’s awake now.
“Well uh… sorry if I did. But since you’re up, do you want to talk?”
Casey blinks rapidly, either not believing what she said or trying to seem more awake then he actually is. “...About what?”
“I don’t know about gender and stuff I guess. Since you’ve been asking a lot of questions, and I wasn’t doing anything else today, I figured I’d come talk to you about it,”
Casey’s eyes widen just a bit and Leo can’t help but smile a bit.
“Oh man- sorry, oh wicked really? Yeah, yeah we can do that just give me a moment I’ll meet you on the roof.” He disappeared from the window and back into the dark room. She saw his door open and close before she started making her way up the fire exit.
It was a nice night. The temperature wasn’t too cool, despite the fact it was the middle of fall. That didn’t stop Casey from coming up with two blankets though, one tightly wrapped around himself. He offers the other to Leo, which she takes and loosely wraps around her shoulders. They sit down on the roof, looking at New York City. It takes a while for Casey to finally speak up.
“So how does this work? Do I just like, ask you questions?”
“Sure, I’ll tell you if something is off limits but nothing should be,” Leo is quite excited actually, none of her brothers had taken an interest in gender outside of her transition. Donnie had asked stuff that related to her, nothing outside of her being a girl.
“Okay, okay cool. How about… oh! How did you know? Like for sure knew?”
“I always kind of knew, but after we met April and Karai something clicked, sort of? So then I did like a ton of research, months of research, trying to find a good term that fit. I settled on trans or transfem since it worked the best for me. But yeah, I always knew, even if I didn’t actually know .”
He seemed a little confused by that, but moved on anyway. (Leo is just wondering why he’s so curious. Why Casey of all people?)
“Is it like, just boy and girl or-?”
“No, no! There’s like a whole spectrum of genders. Some lean more into masculine and feminine traits, or a combination of both which can be called androgynous, and some have no gender at all. The whole concept of gender is very fluid and very much doesn’t just consist of ‘boy’ and ‘girl’,”
“But you’re a girl?”
“Yep, entirely girl I am,”
Casey takes a moment to think about that. Leo can only hope she’s explaining it in a way that makes sense.
“So like, what about pronouns? Cause like-” Casey yawns. He probably has class in the morning too. Or… whatever Casey does outside of hockey and beating up people. “-there has to be more than just two right?”
“Well there’s also they/them pronouns which can be gender neutral,” Casey’s eyes light up. (Oh, Leo realizes that maybe Casey was confused about their gender, hence the questions. That actually makes a lot more sense) “But pronouns don’t equal gender. Kind of like how Splinter still uses he/him for me, but it doesn’t make me any less of a girl.”
“That’s different though, the rat doesn’t actually know,”
Leo giggles. “Yeah, but the point still stands. You got anything else for me, Casey?”
Casey hums a little bit, fiddling with the blanket.
“Anyone can use any pronouns?”
“There’s little limitations, but essentially yes,”
“I could use they/them pronouns then?”
If there’s one thing Leo admires about Casey, it’s their absolute confidence in themself. Sometimes it encouraged reckless endangerment of themselves and others, something Leo is sure she’ll have a heart attack from one day. But to be so confident in themself? Leo wished she had that.
“You can do whatever you want, Casey,”
They nod, a large grin plastered on their face. “Wicked.”
It takes a month after their conversation on the roof for Casey to have a ‘non-family, family meeting’ as they put it.
“Everyone! I’ve gathered you all today for some very important news regarding the one and only Casey Jones!”
“Did you finally learn to fight, Jones?” Raph asks, grinning wide. Casey just flips off Raph with a smile.
“What is this about, Casey?” April then asks, a look of concern on her face.
“I’ve come to find out I’m very much not a man, not a girl either, and will be using they/them pronouns from now on. Questions?”
Casey looks so excited and Leo can’t help but feel a little like a proud mother.
“Can I still call you dude!?” Mikey waves his hand frantically in the air.
“Yes! Both masculine and feminine terms are fine!”
Mikey nods, whispering, “Awesome, dude,”
“So if you’re not a boy or a girl, Jones, what are you?” Donnie asks, causing Leo to flinch a little. Maybe not the best way to phrase that, she’ll have to talk to him later…
But Casey shrugs, not taking any offense. “I don’t know man, I’m just Casey Jones. I’ll let ya know if I ever figure it out though,”
That seems like a good enough answer for Donnie, who gets up and starts heading back towards his lab. “Congrats,” He says to Casey while passing.
That sets everybody else off though, and a collective “Congratulations, Casey!” comes from the remaining 4.
“Aww, y’all are getting sappy. Anyways, meeting over. Wanna hang out, Raph?”
“Sure,” Raph gets up and the two start heading off towards Raph’s room.
Leo watches them go with a smile. There’s so much joy in watching people being happy with their actual identity.
When she turns back around, April and Mikey are in a heated conversation about pizza toppings. April, the sensible one, is arguing against a literal everything pizza. Mikey arguing for an everything pizza, as if he hadn’t made one before and made them all sick. Not a conversation she wants to join, so Leo moves to get up but a voice stops her.
“Leonardo,” Splinter calls from the entrance of the dojo. (She tries to ignore the pain in her heart from the name) Oh he must’ve… he must’ve heard Casey.
April and Mikey have gone silent.
“Yes, sensei?” Leo tries to keep her voice even. She doesn’t even know why her heart is pounding. Surely he can’t be mad, right? Right?
“Come join me for a moment, my son,” (She really tries to ignore the pain in her heart)
Both April and Mikey give her a worried look, but all Leo can do is give a shaky smile back. Since when did her father put fear in her? It’ll be fine, they might not even be talking about Casey. More training, maybe another history lesson. Could be anything, the timing could be incredibly weird. (She’s failing to convince herself)
Splinter is kneeling, a pot of tea and two cups sitting in front of him, when Leo reaches the dojo. His eyes are closed, but Leo knows he knows she’s there from the way his ears twitch. She kneels in front of him and waits.
She will not be the first to speak. Leo doesn’t know if she can speak.
Minutes pass, making Leo nearly slip into a meditative state.
“Tea?” It’s less of a question and more of a demand as Splinter holds it out for Leo. She takes it, loving the way her hands instantly warm up. She takes a sip as Splinter starts speaking. “I do not mean to pry into your friend’s personal lives, but I did over hear Casey and was… worried,”
This is about Casey. Leo should really just trust her gut. “Uh, worried about what sensei?” She’s holding the cup so hard she’s afraid it’ll break. It’s better than Splinter seeing her shake.
“I want Casey to feel safe in the lair even if this is not his- their home. But you and I both know your brothers can be a little… insensitive sometimes. Do not be afraid to remind them, Leonardo, if they mess up.” That sounds weird coming from Splinter, considering her brothers never messed up. (But Splinter doesn’t know that, of course he doesn’t because her brothers also never slip up) “And, do not be afraid to correct me. There are still a few things I need to unlearn from my childhood.”
Something, other than the tea, warms her. Leo could tell him, he would still love her. (But would he? There’s a difference between your children’s friends and your child) But this moment is about Casey, it’s not about her and she shouldn’t make it about her. (She doesn’t know if she could even do it alone. The mere thought of telling him right now makes her want to throw up)
“Why are you telling me this, sensei? Wouldn’t it be better with everyone else here?”
Splinter smiles at Leo. “I trust you, Leonardo, just like I trust your brothers. But I have a feeling you would do better in correcting me,”
No, Raph would be much better than her. There’s a reason a good majority of the villains they fight know her actual pronouns, and it wasn’t because of her.
Leo takes another drink of her tea and sets it down. “I’ll do my best, sensei.”
“Thank you, my son,”
With the nod of his head, Leo leaves. Her head is swimming and she can feel a headache coming. Why? It didn’t go poorly, actually that went really well. He could’ve… he could’ve banned them from seeing Casey ever again. And now she knows that she could tell him.
Leo will, one day. But not right now and probably not tomorrow. Right now she’s going to take a nap in order to stop the headache coming.
But one day. One day.
(She never does)