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[ruevealing]

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[apuckalypse]

[He watches. And he laughs, helpless, a short burst of giggles he is trying and failing to muffle. So silly.

He's gonna try and mimic it. A very non-pro cha cha slide.]

[ruevealing]

Like this!

[Alright, now Rue has to do the whole thing so Casey can really absorb the emotional impact of the song.]

First you slide to the left, then slide to the right. And then it becomes very tricky! You criss cross your feet like this.

[I'm so sorry Donatello Hamato, that these fools are cha cha sliding at your memorial service.]

[apuckalypse]

[He doesn't know what's happening but he's kind of? Into it? Just gonna do Uncle Tello proud by dancing weirdly on his metaphorical grave. Wobbling a little bit with criss-crossed feet.]

It's, uh. Kind of all over the place, this one...

[ruevealing]

You are right! That move is rather difficult. What about this one?

[Watch this owlbear squat down, put both of their paws on their knees, and then criss cross their arms from knee to knee. It looks very silly, but it's supposed to.]

[apuckalypse]

[Incredibly silly. He tries to mimic it again, but after his prior off-balance wobble he ends up pinwheeling and hopping sideways to keep from falling over.]

Need practice...!

[He'll try again a few times, working on mastering it.]

[ruevealing]

[oh no, rue can't help the laugh that bubbles up within them as Casey pinwheels away.]

Perhaps we should go back to the sliding! Or maybe more freeform, where you let the music just move you.

[apuckalypse]

No, no, I'm gonna get it. A Jones doesn't give up after one failure!

[He doesn't know why he knows this, but it feels right, so. There it is. He's doing it, for sure this time. (Clumsily, but there is one success. He has crissed his cross.]

[ruevealing]

Yes! That was it! You picked that move up so quickly! Try again, one more time. If we are dancing for your Uncle Tello, we know he'd want more every move to be perfect.

[apuckalypse]

[Uncle Tello would probably be laughing at them, but it's true that nothing less than perfection should be expected, so a few more attempts and Casey's able to acceptably nail it.]

I think that was right!

[ruevealing]

[Rue's paws hold out for him.]

Better than right! I think your uncle would be quite proud of that move.

[apuckalypse]

[Casey looks shyly pleased.]

You think? Maybe you should teach Donnie someday.

[ruevealing]

Or we could teach him together! Once I've taught you the whole dance.

[apuckalypse]

Ah... maybe.

[He's not committing because the idea of dancing with anyone else like this is daunting, but he's willing to think about it. He gives their paws a squeeze, though, accepting that it might be okay. Fun, even.]

[ruevealing]

[Rue knows exactly what he means, their own paw squeezing his hand back.]

Only if you like. Though I have a feeling, you will be a master of the Cha Cha Slide one day. It seems like exactly the kind of dance Leo and Donnie might enjoy.

[apuckalypse]

It'll take a lot of practice to make me a master of anything.

[It's said in less of a self-deprecating way than the words imply. Dancing is new, it'll take a while to really get the hang of things.]

I think you're right, though. They both might like it.

[ruevealing]

[If only Rue could remember the turtles crushing that dance at their wedding.]

Then take this as my offer to keep practicing if you should so be inclined. I would be happy to teach you more formal dancing too sometime, just on the chance I ever host a ball here.

[apuckalypse]

[yeah weird that!!!]

Oh- I can show you my notes! When I was watching the gala dances, I took notes on the steps to learn a few. I have a head start there.

[ruevealing]

[!!!]

You took notes?

[He is their son!]

I would love to see what you picked up!

[apuckalypse]

Sure, hang on.

[Extracting himself from the silly dance, he returns to the dresser to check on the candle - still doing fine - and fishes a notebook from one of the drawers, flipping through to reach the gala dance notes, which he offers out to Rue. They'll find a couple of pages of little stick figure diagrams doing several numbered dance moves in sequence, with notes about how some dances go from one number to the next. It's quite detailed; he was definitely paying attention.]

[ruevealing]

[Rue is all too eager to take the notebook, peering down at the meticulous notes Casey's taken. They flip through it, humming out their approval with each new diagram.]

And how much of this have you practiced?

[apuckalypse]

[He looks pleased by their quiet approval. He'd tried really hard to nail it, even if he's no artist.]

Not a lot, but at the gala Hunter let me try a few out with him. I think it went well?

[ruevealing]

[Of course he danced with Hunter. Rue is not at all surprised.

(hehe)]

Will your uncle be very much annoyed if we try something more traditional?

[apuckalypse]

[Shhh nothing to see here. Did he get those pictures from Leo? Well. Leo for sure has pictures.]

Well... not like he can stop us. [Bittersweet, but accurate enough that he doesn't lose his smile.] Half the fun of being his nephew is getting away with annoying him.

[ruevealing]

[Their paw finds Casey's cheek, a gentle brush of feathers, before Rue is nodding along.]

I imagine your uncle would even take some pride in that. Getting to see his nephew just as bold as he was.

[Pulling away, Rue holds out both paws.]

The height difference may not be to our advantage, but we can go through the basics easily enough.

[apuckalypse]

[Subtly he tilts his head into their paw while it rests there, briefly closing his eyes. He really is feeling a lot better. As usual, Rue knows exactly what to do.]

Yeah, I don't think my hand will reach your shoulder from here...

[It goes without saying that Hunter led at the gala. Casey knows he's short, and Hunter had also actually been to fancy parties before; it just made the most sense.]