Dr Who: Why the Doctor hates hugs
"Come on, come on, come on!" the Doctor insisted as he tugged on Clara's arm. His eyes were gleaming with excitement as he was practically bouncing on his toes in anticipation. "You've got to see this!"
Clara wasn't as excited. "Doctor, what did the Tardis do this time?" Recently, the Tardis was behaving funny. Ever since it was shrunk by the 2-D aliens, it kept on having odd "hiccups" as the Doctor called it.
The Doctor led her into a room that had a giant tree with amber bulbs dangling from its limbs. She couldn't help but smile at it; it was one of her favorite trees here in the Tardis. The Doctor dropped her hand and approached one of the branches.
"Watch," he ordered and carefully reached out to touch one of the soft, twinkling balls of light. Just as his slender fingertips were about to touch one of them, it wriggled and then floated off the branch and hovered in front of him. The Doctor looked at Clara expectantly.
"Is that it?" she asked.
Frowning at her lack of enthusiasm, the Doctor reached out to touch the ball of light again and this time, it broke into several small pieces and started to float toward her.
Slightly alarmed, Clara began to back away but they continued to follow her every movement. "Doctor, what are they doing?"
"Watch," he simply said with a smile.
With a gasp of surprise, Clara felt the light engulf her skin. It didn't seep in but rested on her arms and torso like a warm embrace. It felt warm, like a hug. She closed her eyes and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself to hug the light back. After a few moments, the light faded from her body and drifted back to the tree. She felt the light's touch still lingering on her skin and she smiled.
The Doctor looked at her expectantly. "Well? What'd you think?"
"That was…," Clara started to say and shook her head in wonderment. "That was amazing. What was that?"
"I haven't the faintest idea," the Doctor admitted. "That's why I brought you in here. I wanted to see what it would do to you."
"You mean you didn't know that it was going to do that?" Clara asked. "What if it was going to hurt me?"
"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor scoffed. "It wouldn't hurt you. And even if it tried, I would make sure you wouldn't be hurt. But tell me, what did it feel like?"
"It felt like someone was hugging me," Clara said. "It was warm, gentle and with a light pressure."
The Doctor visibly shuddered to which Clara frowned.
"Why do you hate hugs so much?"
"I told you," the Doctor explained. "It hides ones face."
Clara frowned, unconvinced. Then she grinned evilly before she reached out to touch another ball of light. The Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"Don't you dare," he said in a low voice.
Clara's fingers touched one of the balls of light and immediately they broke apart and began to drift toward the Doctor. The Doctor started to back away, nervous.
"Clara, why are you doing this?"
"Someone needs a hug," Clara simply answered.
The Doctor held his breath as the light began to rest on his arms, his whole body tense. To Clara's surprise, the Doctor's gritted teeth began to slip into a smile. His frame was starting to tremble with quiet laughter.
"Doctor?" Clara asked. "Are you ok?"
"F-fine," the Doctor said as his voice slipped into a whine of protest. He flinched again and his arms quickly wrapped around his middle in protection. He made another noise through his nose as though he was trying to suppress laughter.
"Doctor, are you laughing?" Clara asked, a smile spreading on her lips.
"N-n-no," the Doctor insisted and, to Clara's astonishment, giggled.
"Are you ticklish?"
"No!" the Doctor said a little too loudly and twitched violently. "I just don't like how this, fe-he-he-heels," he said as Clara watched as the balls of light started to fade away from his body. The Doctor sighed immensely and relaxed his tense body.
"Thank goodness that's over," he muttered.
"That's what you think," Clara thought.
