Not a Hugger
"Clara!" the Doctor shouted, running towards her at full speed.
The sight of his companion was such a relief, this time he really thought she wouldn't have made it. It was the end of another adventure like many, just another time he had put her in danger and she had taken so many stupid risks only to impress him.
"Have you seen how I defeated that creature? I was amazing! " Clara was saying cheerfully, yearning for approval, the adrenaline still rushing through her veins.
The Doctor reached Clara, wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up enthusiastically, not able to contain his joy.
"Woah!" Clara gasped, not expecting such enthusiasm.
She wasn't used to the Doctor hugging her yet. It still happened very rarely, only when it was really important. He only ever took the initiative to hug her a couple of times, only when he was really, genuinely concerned about her. But Clara couldn't help be surprised each time.
"You're always amazing, Clara, but you have to stop doing all these stupid things," he scolded her, putting her back to the ground and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"No way," she laughed, "I'll stop when you stop."
Still holding her in his arms, the Doctor raised his head, with a worried look on his face that Clara couldn't see. He knew that she would have to stop traveling and having adventures much sooner than him anyway, and he should have prevented her from getting too reckless. But he couldn't bring himself to give up his friendship with Clara. And yet it was his curse: in the end, either by accident or by choice, he was going to lose his impossible girl like all the other people who had traveled with him before. The knowledge of their different lifespans and fragility was always in the back of his mind, but he couldn't just shrug it off these days. He was clinging to her so much because he felt it wasn't long now before they had to part. There was a little tear at the corner of his eye he couldn't allow to show.
"Anyway," Clara said, "I have to admit you've become quite good at this, for someone who hates hugging."
"I don't always hate it, that's too absolute, there are exceptions," the Doctor replied, resurfacing from his thoughts, "I don't mind hugging you, for instance, but that's it."
"I used to have a cat just like you, when I was little," she smiled, gripping his jacket with one hand and stroking the grey hair on his neck with the other, "that would let you touch him only when he thought you were ignoring him."
"I'm no cat," the Doctor replied, almost offended, loosening the grip on her waist.
"I know, you're a stick insect!" Clara grinned, drawing him closer again. She paused for a second, then added, "do you remember that time I taught you how to hug?"
"Of course I do," he nodded.
"In the TARDIS, behind closed curtains," she continued, "I guess it turned out to be quite useful for you."
"I guess you could say so."
A few adventures before...
"Thank you, Doctor!" the female humanoid alien said to the Doctor in a weird accent, squeezing him in her arms.
The Doctor, held so tight he could barely breath, was looking for any possible way to escape the forceful physical contact he'd been trapped in. The alien was just trying to show her gratitude to the Time Lord for saving her village and whole planet, but he wasn't quite appreciating it. Panicking, frozen, his arms lying rigid along his sides, his eyes desperately seeking for Clara's in an unspoken request to make the hug stop.
"Okay, enough, can't you see he doesn't like it?" Clara said, removing the alien from the Doctor and pulling him by his arm to bring him away.
"Thank you!" the female alien shouted again, as they were leaving the village under the night sky.
The Doctor looked up and returned immediately cheerful. "Ah, another mission accomplished, another planet saved!" he rejoiced, putting his sonic glasses on. "See," he said to Clara lightheartedly while they were walking, pointing at the sky, "no sign of incoming deadly meteorites, every star back to its place, all trajectories and orbits fixed and secured. Success."
But Clara wasn't listening to him. "You shouldn't let people hug you without your permission," she said.
"Have you noticed that little star that wasn't there till a few hours ago?" he kept talking about the sky, without acknowledging her attempt to change topic, "of course it's all thanks to your precious help, Clara."
"It's rude to hug someone like that without their permission," she continued, ignoring what he just said.
"Can we not talk about the stars?" the Doctor sighed.
"I'm just saying, you shouldn't allow people to treat you like that," Clara shrugged.
"Isn't it that maybe you're jealous?" the Doctor said provocatively with a smirk, taking his glasses off.
"Jealous?!" Clara laughed, "of what, getting paper cuts from hugging you?"
"You never ask for permission to hug, though" he added, "and you don't seem to care if I tell you not to do it."
Clara was taken aback for a moment. "But that's different."
"How so?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm a frequent flyer," she simply stated, "I've got privileges. And they include hugs."
"Whatever you say," the Doctor replied, hiding a smile with his hand.
They reached the TARDIS, and the Doctor opened the door with his key.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is," Clara added, entering the TARDIS, "you shouldn't let anybody put you in an uncomfortable situation."
The Doctor followed her and closed the door behind him. He hesitated a second at the entrance. "The fact is," he finally said, "I don't know how to respond to a hug. Not knowing how to react distress me. I hate not knowing."
"What do you mean?" Clara asked from the middle of the room, caressing the TARDIS console.
"It's like," he started explaining, moving towards the console, looking down at his boots, "when I regenerated, the software for hugs must have been cancelled from my hard drive", he pointed at his wavy grey head, "my programming has been reset and they've forgotten to reinstall the drivers for hugging." He shrugged, raising his gaze to Clara's face. "I don't know how to hug, it's probably been deleted for sign language or semaphore."
Clara blinked a few times as her big eyes were starting to inflate. "Okay," she then said, taking in the information, "I can teach you, if you want."
The Doctor raised his attack eyebrows in surprise. "What use would that be?"
"You once said that hugging is a great way to hide your face," she replied, regaining control of her eyes, "and you might need to hide your expressive lined face one day."
"Would you really do that?" he asked, drawing his bushy eyebrows together, "would you really teach me how to hug?"
"Yes, sure, it's not a big deal," she agreed, moving a couple of steps towards him, "come on, let's do this."
She opened her arms, waiting for his move. But the Doctor simply stood there, looking aside, half embarrassed half confused. He opened his arms in response, mimicking Clara's movements, but didn't know how to go on. Clara read through his pale blue eyes and understood. Two hugs in a row were a bit too much for this Doctor, so she had to initiate it.
Clara reached the Doctor, put her arms around his waist and tried to embrace him, but the Doctor was still keeping a distance.
"You'll need to move closer, Doctor, I've got short arms."
"I hate to break it on you, Clara, but you also have short legs and torso," he replied, moving a step towards her clumsily. Their chests collided with a soft thump.
"Okay, that's better," Clara said in her teacher tone, wrapping her arms completely around the Doctor and holding him closer, as their bodies pressed against each other. She felt the warmth of the two hearts beating next to hers. She had missed the warm embraces of the previous regeneration of the Doctor, the tender moments between them that were the best comforting gestures during dangerous adventures. She knew she couldn't get the same kind of comfort from this Doctor, and it wasn't the Doctor's fault. He had other subtle yet meaningful ways to show his affection towards her, and it was all right. But she still missed his hugs sometimes.
The Doctor's arms were still open at his sides, without touching Clara. "Now you're supposed to close your arms around me, Doctor," she explained.
The Doctor, with a look of mild worry on his face, moved his arms closer to Clara and closed them around her waist. "Like this?" he asked, pouting.
"Well done, but you should lay down your hands too," she laughed, tapping her fingers on the Doctor's back.
His hands were still held outwards in an awkward position, with his fingers loosely outstretched, so the Doctor started to slowly rest them on Clara's body, feeling the smooth fabric of her dress below his fingertips. But he wasn't careful enough, and his hands slipped inadvertently too low on her waist, touching her round hips lightly.
"Oi, soldier, move your hands up!" Clara admonished him, giving him a light slap on his back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"I know, don't worry, I don't mind," she smiled, holding him tighter.
The Doctor slid his hands up to Clara's shoulders. His fingers brushed her soft brown hair and the Doctor's alarmed face relaxed, as if feeling the contact with Clara for the first time.
They stood wrapped in each other's arms for a few moments, quietly, enjoying the privacy granted by the TARDIS. Then Clara cleared her throat and broke the silence.
"So, it's easy, isn't it?" she said, "you just have to remember the three steps of a hug: moving closer, arms, and hands."
"I'll write them down, in case I forget," the Doctor replied sarcastically.
"You could also add a little pat or rub on the back for extra comfort but that's Practical Hugging 102," Clara continued, grinning, "you're still not ready for that. We'll think about that next time."
"You're the teacher."
Slowly, unwillingly, Clara loosened her grip on the Doctor's waist and let go. He did the same, and they parted form their hug. They both walked to the TARDIS control console, reaching it on opposite sides, looking down, hiding the warm smiles on their faces.
"By the way," the Doctor said, pushing a couple of buttons and making the TARDIS beep loudly, "now I know for sure."
"What?" Clara asked curious, peering from behind the orange time rotor to look at him.
He raised his eyes to her. "You're an amazing teacher."
Clara's smile widened. "And you're a good student."
"But I'm still not sure about this thing," he smiled back, "I'm still not a hugger."
"You'll get better," she laughed, "you just need more practice. What about that planet you mentioned the other day, where people have six arms? I bet they're great huggers. Should we go and pay a visit, so you can practice your hugs a bit?"
"Agreed," the Doctor winked, pulling the engine release lever.
The TARDIS rushed through the time vortex towards their new adventure, between one hug and the next.
Author's notes: This story turned out more sugary than I intended, but I just rewatched series 9 finale and I needed something to cheer me up. Hope you enjoyed the fic anyway. In case you were wondering, the introduction is set towards the end of series 9, before Cara's departure, while the flashback is set between Last Christmas and The Magician's Apprentice. I got the idea of this story because Twelve's hugging skills seem to have improved quite a lot in between series 8 and 9, so I thought he might have had some extra lessons from a certain teacher. Do you think that the Doctor started to like hugging Clara in the end? Please let me know your opinions on this fic and if you liked this quiet moment between the Doctor and Clara in the reviews. Thank you.