Work Text:
Valentine's Day is such a weird concept. Every year on February 14th, all the pudding brains of the world would express their feelings with a variety of tacky gifts, hoping the other person feels the same way. He would never have thought he would participate in such a fad. But as luck would have it, this mighty time lord is pacing back and forth contemplating a gift that he has gotten for one human in particular.
‘What if Clara doesn’t like it.’ The Doctor’s eyes narrowed into a little necklace with a glowing blue gem surrounded by gold from the Rings of Akhaten. 'For the last time..she will', Bill begins as she sits on top of her professor's desk with a tired expression. ‘It’s a great gift and I am sure she will love it’ She then slowly gets up, staring at The Doctor as she becomes more and more irritated.
‘Ok, but what if she already has plans or what if she gets angry or-‘ Bill grabs his shoulders and stops him from pacing. ‘You are being ridiculous. Why couldn’t you wake up Nardole or Missy for advice instead of calling me at 4 a.m!’ The Doctor takes Bill’s hands off his shoulder and slowly makes his way to his desk and places the necklace into a drawer.
‘Nardole knows nothing about humans, and besides, would you tell your dead-wife’s cyborg about this?’ He then stares at River's photograph for a second with a fear of what would happen as he glances at Bill, who just shrugs.
‘Ok then what about Missy?’ Bill glares with a tired expression. ‘She was the one who brought you two together.’
‘One, how do you know about that, and two, she would most likely recommend threatening Clara with a knife into saying yes.’ The Doctor then sits in his chair and gestures to Bill to sit in the one opposite him.
‘Clara tells me all about your travels. I mainly ask her about them in order to distract her from my missing English assignments.’ She yawns and stares off into the distance, seemingly unaware that she just said that to her tutor.
‘In all honesty, just ask her out, instead of trying to increase my chances of falling asleep in your lecture.’ Bill looks at the Tardis, then back at him. ‘Where is she anyway? I would have thought a being with no heartbeat wouldn’t need any sleep.’
‘Madame really values sleep. Honestly, I think it’s her way of retaining her old habits.’ Nardole begins as he appears at the doorway of the office out of nowhere. ‘What are you both up to at this time?’
She spins in her chair with a sly grin on her face. ‘The Doctor is planning to-‘ The Doctor nudges her to be silent. ‘What! I know you didn’t want me to tell him, but-‘ The Doctor watches Bill as she turns around to find the Woman of the Hour, Clara Oswald, at the Tardis door, in her dressing gown with a cup of coffee and a confused look on her face.
’Tell him what exactly?’ The Doctor knew that face. Eyebrows narrowed and eyes locked onto him, also known as number 17 in his sketchbook. He sensed that she knew something was up and that he needed an excuse. Fast.
'That I am planning on getting Bill and you to help me come up with a lesson on Catherine Parr by going to have a cup of tea with her. You know how Nardole is with time travel, with Missy and all that.’ He smiled, hoping she wouldn’t pry any further into the issue.
'Alright.. I’m going to the library to mark some assignments.’ Clara starts to turn around and head back inside the Tardis as everyone else but the Doctor sighs in relief.
'Wait for it.’ Just as he whispers to Bill, the door of the Tardis swings open as Clara glares at everyone before slowly closing the door again.
‘Now it’s safe. Nardole, can you go get my lesson plans for the day?’ Nardole then, with a disapproving look, nods and turns back around to leave. ‘I better get ready for work. Good luck with asking Clara out.’ Bill gets up and turns to leave. ‘And don’t chicken out as I have £30 on the line.’
As Bill walks out The Doctor sits alone as the sun starts to rise.
This won’t be too hard. All he has to do is ask Clara if she wants to go out on a date. I mean, it is Valentine's Day tomorrow and she might be happy if he remembers such a useless holiday. Yes, everything will be just fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attempt 1:
The Doctor at the cafe waits for Clara like he always does before the university opens. All he has to do is ask if she wants to go to a restaurant or something tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. Yes, he can do that. He has faced Daleks and Cybermen alike. A small human with malfunctioning eyes is no problem.
‘Hey Doc! Sorry I was a bit late, had to finish marking Bill’s assignment on Persuasion and ended up reading a page or two of the actual book.’ Clara had the brightest smile on her face as she entered, in her usual suit with a loose tie.
Never mind that he was screwed, this will be the thing that triggers his regeneration.
Clara ran to the table they usually sat at, as it was the only one with comfy chairs. The Doctor got up when she then surprised him with a hug. He would never admit it, but he didn’t mind when she hugged him. It was like all his problems melted away and kept the screams at bay. Providing him with some much-needed peace.
‘And you say I’m the one that’s always late to things.’ He then immediately backs away in order not to give that away to her. If she found that out, Clara would most likely tease him for it. He would rather like to keep his reputation intact during his time here on Earth.
She playfully punched him on the arm. ‘I was a few minutes late, not a whole month.’
‘That was one time, plus I got distracted.’ In reality, he had gotten captured by some Judoon. But he had a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate missing out on another adventure. Clara had already started to open her wallet while rolling her eyes.
'Whatever. We still need to get some coffee. I’ll go order our usual. You wait here and try not to get us banned from another cafe.’
‘Ok! But to be fair, it wasn’t my fault that the owner looked like a Sontaran... ’ The Doctor then read the kids' menu for a bit, trying to work out what a ‘Chip Butty’ was, until Clara came back with the coffee.
When she sat down, they both enjoyed their coffee in silence for a minute or two when he finally decided to take the risk. ‘So, Clara, about tomorrow-‘
‘Oh my god! Hi Clara!’ A woman in a barista uniform went straight up to Clara and gave her a big hug, almost making her fall out of her chair.
‘Oh hi Nina! What brings you around here?’ Clara looked a little shocked that what seemed to be an old friend had just tackled her.
‘Oh such a long story! We need to catch up. I am about to start my shift, so come to the counter and we can chat for a bit.’ Nina didn’t even acknowledge his presence as she began to make her way to the back.
Clara gave her friend a big smile and leaned down towards The Doctor. ‘I’ll be back in a tick, then we can finish our coffee. Let’s hope she hasn’t heard of my death from home. I do not want a repeat of last time.’ She then went to her friend at the counter and began to talk each other's ear off as The Doctor remained in his chair slowly sipping his coffee.
What is he going to do now? Who knows how long they’ll be at this for. Of all the days this old friend of Clara’s could have chosen to show up on, this was the worst. Well, he might as well do something productive.
One cat nap later, Clara returned and sat in her chair with two heart-shaped cookies, which was no doubt made for Valentine’s Day. ‘Sorry that took so long. For some odd reason, they were selling these cookies. I have never seen them here before.’ She gave him the other cookie and began sipping her coffee, which was long cold by now. ‘Now what was it you wanted to talk about?’
This was it. He began to rummage through his pockets for the necklace. ‘Well, I was wondering-‘ He froze. Stupid bigger on the inside pockets. He started to frantically look through his pockets as Clara looked at him with confusion.
Oh no.
He left it in his office’s drawer. What was he going to do? They rarely see each other during work hours unless it's at lunch. He can always ask then. It wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.
‘Wondering about what?’ The Doctor snapped back to reality to the sound of Clara’s voice as he began to panic. What if she caught on. He had to make sure that wouldn’t happen, it would ruin the surprise.
‘I….was.. wondering…if you had finished marking Bill’s English assignment.’ She glared at him suspiciously for a bit, as he kept a poker face on, hoping she would buy it. Her face lit up with a smile.
‘Oh yeah it was quite good. I especially liked the part where she..’ The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief as they began to walk back to the university to begin their lectures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attempt 2:
The first half of the day went well. The Doctor had just given a lecture on music in a class that was meant for physics. He looked down at his watch to see he had just about enough time to go and grab the necklace from his desk. He made his way through the complex campus to the courtyard in front of the dining hall, where a male student seemed to be giving a girl some flowers. The Doctor would never understand how some people found it so easy to just spill their hearts out. Why wasn’t it that simple for him? Then again, his and Clara’s relationship was far from simple.
‘Hey Doctor! Want any hot chips?’ He nodded with a smile as she poured some onto his plate. He then went looking for Clara, as Bill followed him. She then very discreetly turned to him. ‘Any luck with you know who?’
‘Not yet. We got interrupted by her old friend. But I am going to try again.’ The Doctor then gave up on looking and just decided to sit and wait for her. ‘Have you almost finished your essay on free will? Your extension is almost up.’
‘It’s not my fault we were attacked by crazy monks!’ Bill sat down as he rolled his eyes. He then finally saw Clara as she came to sit down in front of him. However, instead of a bright smile, he was met with a completely blank expression.
‘Bill told me everything..’ The Doctor froze with fear. He turned to Bill, looking for help, but she was trying to hold back a laugh. He knew this was a terrible idea. He should have never even attempted to take her out or suggest anything more than friendship. Now she’s going to leave again, and this time it will be for goo-
‘How dare you visit Jane Austen with Bill and not invite me?! Next time, invite me ok?’ He sighed with relief. At least she didn’t tell her, though he thinks Bill did that to mess with him. ’Yes boss.’ Clara then smiled and everyone went back to eating in silence.
When Bill left to go back to serving chips, Clara and him decided to go walk around the campus to kill off some time before classes start. She wanted to go travelling but he was determined that he could ask her out on a date without an adventure as a distraction.
‘I was um thinking we should go somewhere tomorrow.’ The Doctor waited anxiously for her reply as she seemed to process the information.
‘I just suggested an adventure, but you said Nardole would tell you off again.’ They almost ran into some students as they reached the library. The door was locked, so he got his sonic shades out and hoped the door wasn’t made of wood. It then opened as he started to walk inside, but realised Clara wasn’t next to him. He turned around to find her looking at an object which he couldn’t see properly with his glasses on.
‘What’s this?’ He took his sonic shades off and looked closer, realising that she was holding the necklace. It must have fallen out when he got his glasses. He took a sharp breath and tried to keep his composure.
‘It’s a necklace I picked up when I went back to the Rings of Akhaten. I was just about to give it to you as a gift.’ She examined the necklace and put it on as it radiated a dark blue light from the gem. Clara then ran up to him and gave him a big hug. He fearfully hugged her back as he felt her check her watch. She then quickly pulled away from the hug.
‘Thank you so much! I have to get to class, but afterwards you can tell what this gift is for!’ She pecked him on the cheek and ran to class as he smiled.
His smile slowly started to fade. He was so dumbstruck by her hug that he had completely forgotten about asking her out for Valentine’s Day. He mentally face palmed as he began to feel stupid for trying. There were many other great humans for Clara. Besides, she probably would have said no anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Final First Attempt
The Doctor had finished for today and was in the library in front of his blank blackboard with a cup of black coffee nearby. He was contemplating what led up to this point. He met a human with huge eyes and egomaniacal tendencies who ended up being his most trusted friend. He scowls at the chalk in his hand as he debates trying again on Valentine's Day. Like an anonymous card or something. I think Clara called those secret inquirers or admirers. No, who was he kidding, he should give up trying.
‘What’s wrong?’ The Doctor was so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed that Clara was sitting on a desk. He guessed she was marking papers.
‘Why would you think there’s something wrong?’ He refused to turn around as he knew that one sight of her huge eyes would make him melt on the spot.
'You have been staring at a blank blackboard for an hour. So what’s on your mind?’ He decided not to answer in order to avoid the issue.
There was around 30 minutes of silence.
He assumed she had given up as she hadn’t pressed the issue any further.
‘Hey what’s the date? I need to post the grades for the last assignment.’ At this point, The Doctor had ended up in his favourite chair and was writing in his 2000-year-old diary. Maybe older. He doesn’t keep count anymore.
‘February 13th.’ He lifted his head up to look at her, noticing a shocked expression on her face.
‘Oh, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow! That’s why there were heart-shaped cookies at the cafe this morning.’ He slowly turned around. Did she seriously not know all day? She usually had a date every year for Valentine's Day or a party to go to with some humans. ‘Is that why you got the necklace for me?’
'I had no idea, I just thought you might like it.’ He used his usual ignorance of holidays to his advantage. He could have said yes, but his dignity would be ruined. He then got up to get a book and sat down again.
‘Hmmm….’ There was silence as she got up, got her signed copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and sat down in the seat next to him. He took a sip of his black coffee that was long cold by now. ‘Do you want to go somewhere?’
The Doctor spit his coffee out as he looked up to see that Clara was still reading calmly, as if she hadn’t just said that.
‘Like a date?’ He tried to remain calm, but he’s pretty sure his hearts were beating so hard she could hear it.
‘Yeah. That’s what people who are close do on Valentine's Day.’ She was still reading her book as The Doctor was just staring at her. She then looked up with a concerned look as her face slowly started to turn a bright pink.
‘Unless you don’t want to! We could just, you know, get coffee like usual or just go on an adventure!’ He chuckled under his breath as his Clara kept rambling and blushing, as though she had just realised what she had said.
’Sure why not?" I think I have the perfect place... It’s on this planet called….’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Hah! I win! Pay up!’ Missy and her had been watching the scene unfold in front of them. Bill sighed. She really thought she would win.
‘Fine! Here’s the £30. I really thought he would ask her out first! I am usually amazing at these things.’ Bill went back outside the Tardis as Missy followed.
‘Yes but you had one disadvantage!’ Missy started to put the password into the vault. It then opened as they both stepped through.
‘What is that?’ Bill then sat down in a chair in the vault as Missy entered her glass prison and sat on her piano.
‘You can’t travel to the future whenever you please!’ She smirked as she closed the door behind her and locked it.
‘What do you mean? Did you cheat!’ Bill couldn’t believe her. Then again, she is an evil genius. She should have expected foul play.
‘Of course not! How dare you accuse me of such things!’ Missy then dramatically ‘fainted’ onto her piano.
‘Then what did you do?’ She then just laid on top of her piano.
‘I saw the Hybrid at its fullest. It’s great to see that my plan was a success!’ ‘Hybrid? What plan?’ Bill was properly confused.
‘Oh you are adorable. ‘The Hybrid will break a million hearts to heal its own’’
Missy looked at her face for recognition but just saw confusion.
‘What does that mean?’ Missy rolled her eyes. Then got up and sat on the piano like you are supposed to.
‘How do I put it into terms you understand? I brought them together, I kept them together, and I have made sure they depend on each other. All for one reason! You know what that is?’ She started to play the piano cover of what seemed to be the song her tutor played a lot.
‘What?’ Missy smirked as she played, then looked directly at Bill.
‘Chaos.’