"What's the point of this... 'school dance'?," he asked, staring at the floor. He was stood in April's bedroom, leaning against the wall outside of her closet. Multiple dresses, summery and otherwise, had been thrown and strewn across her bed and floor, rejected in her experimentation. He was currently staring at a frilly, yellow summer frock with white flower print over the edge of the skirt.
"It's just for fun, and the teachers' way of congratulating us on completing our exams," April called. "We dance, eat, chat. Just generally have a good time."
"And that requires you to mutilate your closet?" She laughed, making him smile slightly at the dress, before staggering out of her wardrobe with her arms stretched around behind her.
"Ugh, can you get the zip for me?" He obeyed; the zip only reached a short way up her back, so it was of little wonder that she couldn't reach it, being such a low backed dress.
"Hm, red. I like it." She grinned over her shoulder, turning around and straightening out the skirts.
"You would. Think it looks okay on me?" The multiple ruffled skirts reached down to her knees, giving the impression she was flower-like and delicate, bodice tapering to a point over her collar bone into a single strap around her neck. The dress was more of a crimson than bright red, with a slightly pinkish sheen. She wore matching kitten heels and her ginger hair was down, curled into autumn coloured ringlets around her thin shoulders.
"... Looks good," he replied in affirmation. "Great, actually. You should go in that one." April blinked in surprise, then smiled sweetly and nodded.
"Okay then, I will." He watched her walk over to her desk, where she began fiddling with make up and jewellery. Raph glanced at the alarm clock; 8:34 pm. He'd been hiding in her room for an hour now, but he'd gotten texts from all his brothers confirming their safety. Donnie had made it back to the Lair, while Leo and Mikey had hidden in Murakami-san's store room, but the Kraang were still obviously combing the streets, which had been the reason they split up in the first place. The idea of hiding in the bedroom of the girl the little aliens were after may not have seemed so bright, but they'd all agreed that someone had to make sure she was safe.
Well, Raph had been heading in that direction anyway when they split up.
"Should I wear something in my hair?" He looked back over to her; she was looking at him in the mirror, brushing her fingers through her ginger locks. "I feel like my head looks kinda... plain."
"Plain?," he repeated. "With all that curliness going on?" She grinned and grabbed the yellow teddy bear that sat beside her pencil pot, launching it into Raph's face. He yelped and grabbed it before it fell to the floor, then lifted it to head height and peeked at her. "Protect me, Teddy, she's violent!" April giggled into the back of her hand, and the turtle grinned widely in return. He took a moment to observe her closely, looking her up and down, then walked towards the desk. He placed the bear back in its place, then turned April towards the mirror. She went quiet all of a sudden, staring at his reflection. Raph reached behind his head and tugged on the tail of his mask, releasing the knot, then placed it over April's head. He slipped one hand under the sea of curly hair and swept it over her shoulder, tying the ends of the red fabric behind her neck firmly but gently, and returned her hair to its place. "Better?"
She stared at herself in the mirror, admiring the make-shift hair band. It looked somewhat rustic, being so tattered, but that just added to the look. A mix of cute charm and messy resourcefulness, if you could call it that. "I... wow, yeah! But... but I can't-"
"You can borrow it, just for tonight. Gotta have it back when you next see us," he interrupted, folding his arms. She hesitantly reached up, stroking her fingers over the worn fabric.
"Thank you...," she mumbled. The red head then got to her feet and turned to face him, making him wince. "What's wrong?"
"You look pretty. I'm worried some jerks are going to follow you down into the sewer humping your leg or something!," Raph exclaimed. "Then I'd have to beat them off and save you."
"Like a knight in a shining half-shell!," she giggled, then tilted her head. "The others would come save me too, right?"
"Of course. It's just that Leo would settle for just scaring them rather than giving them a pounding, Mikey would get distracted and try to become their friends, and Donnie would down right murder them if he came to rescue you!" He raised his chin in the air with pride, grinning smugly. "I'm the only one who would give 'em the beating they deserved without causing permanent physical damage."
April smiled, then stepped up to the warrior turtle and looped her slim arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a warm embrace. "Thanks, Raphie."
Thus began my headcanon that April was the only one allowed to call him Raphie in public. 2K3 had his brothers calling him Raphie every once in a while, which was extremely cute, but 2k12 Raph probably wouldn't stand for it, from anyone but April at least. And hey, if you don't want to ship 'em, you're more than welcome to view this in a platonic sense. I don't have siblings of my own, but I understand that a good relationship with them can be very sweet.
Hail to the princess, baby!