Carefully lest he see, April angled her compact mirror so she could look at Raphael's face without him noticing. His eyes were narrowed in concentration as he tended to her hair, coaxing the soft, dark strands into some sort of elaborate up-do that he had seen on TV.
His lips-they were etched with scars (he had so many scars)-curved up in a smirk. "If you wanted to check me out, you coulda just asked."
April flushed. Ninjas. "Geez, aren't you full of yourself? I was just trying to make sure you weren't making a mess of my hair."
He chuckled at the way she was trying and failing to sound angry, then said, "I did okay on your nails."
She glanced at them now. They were painted yellow, her favorite color. She still couldn't believe just how careful Raph was being, how gentle. He usually seemed so harsh and careless.
She had asked Leo about the sudden change one time when they were alone on the couch in the lair. He had just grinned at her and then laughed at the baffled look on her face.
Soon after that Raph had stormed in, asked why they were being so 'buddy-buddy' and proceeded to whisk April away to show her some baby rats he had found in the sewers.
The woman smiled fondly at the memory and went back to applying her make-up.
"So," She could feel the rumble of Raphael's voice even without hearing it, "Where are you goin'?"
"On a date with Casey Jo-" She let out a screech of pain when he yanked her hair suddenly. "What the hell was that for?"
Raph grunted. "Sorry, didn't mean to."
His voice shook a little, and April told herself it must have been from guilt.
"It's okay," she whispered.
When April came back home almost four hours later, she assumed the turtle would have gone home. But to her surprise he was still hunkered in her living room, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.
Aw. Is he sleeping?
She walked over, smoothing down her red velvet dress as she walked. Her heels were by the door, having been kicked off the moment April stepped through the door. She crouched in front of Raphael, smiling, and went to shake him awake. She was met with a large hand around her wrist.
"You okay?" he asked gruffly, his eyes snapping open. For the second time that night, April silently cursed ninjas.
"I'm fine. Casey is...nice." She stood up. "We went to a bar, then to a club-the usual." She shrugged.
Raph frowned at her expression. She sure didn't look like a girl who had had fun. Shame. She damn well deserved to, especially after all the bullshit he and his brothers had put her through. Raph smirked. Good thing he knew how to show a girl a good time.
She fell asleep on his shoulder about twenty minutes into the movie and was miraculously not startled awake by any of the loud explosions. He shook his head in amazement.
But she was smiling. He loved it when she smiled. He couldn't help but think that maybe...well, maybe he was just being stupid, but Raph was pretty sure she only smiled like that at him.
He snorted at the thought and closed his eyes, pressing mute on the remote control.
A/N: 'Falling' by FantasiaWandering planted a seed of interest about the turtles doing April's hair in my mind, so it must be acknowledged. It is also a very good 2k12 'verse fic, so I highly recommend it.