A casual day in the TARDIS; no life-threatening trips to decaying planets or dangerous exploration of newly born planets. Just the Doctor and Clara in the TARDIS. Clara had requested it. Sometimes she enjoyed the domestic life, especially when it was shared with the Doctor. Clara had spent the day reading in the dimly lit library, a cup of elderflower and lemon tea at hand, skimming through a plethora of books the Doctor possessed that she had never heard of. Meanwhile, the Doctor had fidgeted with TARDIS functions, occasionally moving from room to room.
Tiring of reading, Clara retired her book to go seek her Doctor. After a few minutes of aimlessly wandering the corridors, Clara came across an opened door with music playing faintly inside. She approached the room, and leaned against the door frame. A smile spread across her face as she watched the Doctor wander around the room; a room filled top to bottom with paintings, she noticed.
"Found ya," Clara said softly.
The Doctor turned his head and returned a smile, holding out his hand to invite her to join him.
Clara walked to his side, taking his hand in hers and resting it at her side. They stood admiring a wall of portraits, some faces she recognized, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marilyn Monroe, and a few faces she couldn't name.
As if he could read her mind (and he could, touch telepathy, mind you) the Doctor began pointing to framed individuals, naming them and briefly describing their importance to him.
Clara's eyes wandered more along the expansive wall until she focused on a beautifully detailed portrait of a young woman she thought she recognized.
"Doctor?" she asked, interrupting his explanation of a previous portrait. "That painting there," she pointed, "Who is she? She looks oddly familiar. She's absolutely breathtaking, looks like a model."
The Doctor smiled.
"Her name is Amy. A previous companion, I've mentioned her, I don't think you've seen a picture of her before?"
"No, this is the first time I believe..." Clara trailed off, moving closer to inspect the portrait, "The paint itself, though, it's just, beautiful. It's perfectly matched to every part of her body. And how detailed she is! It looks as if it were a picture, not a painting."
"Ah. That would be the painting techniques of the people of Kaguya. Their appreciation for art and beauty is the center of their culture. I took Amy there once, and she was the center of attention. Bright red hair is not a daily sight to behold. A Kaguyan was quick to offer to paint her. Took him 30 minutes flat to do the whole thing. It's incredibly, really," The Doctor reminisced.
Clara continued to study the painting in awe, as the Doctor watched her in amusement.
"Would you like to go to Kaguya?" he offered.
Clara whipped around, her eyes wide with childlike excitement, and she bit her lip as she smiled and nodded.
The Doctor took her hand again and they both ran to the control room, both ready for another adventure.
~
The TARDIS groaned as they landed on Kaguya, Clara already heading straight for the door.
"Clara, wait!" The Doctor said, stopping her. "I'll warn you, Kaguya is an extremely hot planet; desert terrain. Nothing you won't be able to handle, but I highly suggest you change for the occasion. You know, shorts, a dress, something so you don't overheat. I'll be changing too."
Clara nodded and dashed off to her room, as the Doctor headed to his.
A few minutes later, both emerged and met in the control room, clad in their summer attire.
Clara looked beautiful as always in a short pink dress that grazed her upper thighs and exposed her collar bones. She stifled a laugh, however, when she saw the Doctor dressed in thin tan pants and a white short sleeved dress shirt with the top three buttons undone.
"What?" he said defensively, "Black absorbs heat, okay? Now let's go before I change my mind."
Clara giggled and they both exited the TARDIS onto Kaguya.
~
Clara's arm gripped tightly to the Doctor's bicep as they walked along a Kaguyan city street, eyes following the both of them.
"Doctor," Clara said through gritted teeth.
"Hmmm?" he hummed dazily.
"You didn't think to mention the appearance of these Kaguyans?"
A typical Kaguyan was slightly shorter than an average human's height, and each one, no matter the sex, was rather curvaceous. They had iridescent white skin that reflected the abundant sun, and hairless bodies. Their eyes were almost cartoonishly large, and the iris was a striking purple colour. The strangest thing, however, was the absence of a mouth.
"What were you expecting? I find them quite intriguing. No mouth! You know why?" The Doctor asked excitedly.
Clara furrowed her brow and shook her head.
"Well for one, they have no need to consume typical solid or liquid foods. Their food source comes from the sun, like a plant. It's brilliant! But also, there is no spoken language. Kaguyans speak with body language. It's like Human sign language, except this is their native and only language.
The Doctor signed what Clara interpreted as hello to a passing Kaguyan who stared in awe and repeated the motion back to him.
"They retain their ears to be wary of possible predators, though natural selection in a few centuries will eventually rid Kaguyans of them due to the absence of - "
A Kaguyan interrupted the Doctor by stopping in front of the both of them and signing wildly with it's hands.
"What's it saying, Doctor?" Clara asked. This was one language the TARDIS could not automatically translate for her.
"He welcomes the both of us to Kaguya," the Doctor translated while watching the creature, "And would like... to capture the woman's... beauty with a painting... for both him and her."
Clara's eyes glanced up hopefully at the Doctor's, who rolled his.
"Yes, Clara, of course you can. I wouldn't have brought you here to not be painted," the Doctor chuckled.
The Doctor signed back what Clara knew was, "Yes" and they were both led by the Kaguyan into a large open garden.
The Kaguyan, knowledgeable that Clara was not able to sign, used the Doctor to communicate with her.
"He would like you to sit down, and center yourself between the flower bushes behind you, Clara," The Doctor said.
"Now tilt your head and look away to the right."
Clara positioned herself, and the Kaguyan confirmed she did so correctly with a satisfactory nod.
"Now he'd like you to remo-" the Doctor stopped mid sentence, eyes widening.
"Do what, Doctor?" Clara asked.
The Doctor was shaking his head and signing what Clara interpreted as no.
"Doctor! What does he want me to do?"
The Kaguyan looked over to Clara calmly and motioned to his chest.
"He wants you to, ah. Remove your clothing," the Doctor gulped. "I'm so sorry Clara I didn't realize he wanted a n-nude painting, I shouldn't have brought you here I didn't -"
Clara begun to untie her dress from behind.
"Clara, w-what are you doing I don't think - " he stuttered.
"I have no issues with my naked body, nor having a nude painting done. It's just for the sake of art, Doctor," she laughed. "It's quite exciting, actually, this is on my bucket list!"
"I shouldn't - Clara you don't -," the Doctor averted his eyes and a deep blush covered his face.
When he heard the soft woosh of fabric being discarded, the Doctor rushed out of the garden before Clara could protest.
~
Roughly an hour later, Clara emerged from the garden, with two portraits in hand. She found the Doctor sitting on a bench outside tapping his fingers nervously against his thigh.
Clara stood before him, and beamed "Ready?"
"Yes. TARDIS is this way," he said, completely avoiding her gaze and jumping up to leave.
Clara jogged to catch up with him, meeting him at his side.
"He gave me two lovely portraits! Would you like to see them?" She asked with genuine excitement.
"No," the Doctor said firmly, though with a slight tremble to his voice.
Clara frowned. "Oh come on! He did a lovely job! He gave me two paintings of me in different poses and lighting and kept one for himself. I think they're the best paintings I've ever -"
"Clara. I don't want to see them," the Doctor said again, gaze fixed firmly ahead.
"Why not?" Clara asked, a hurt tone now in her voice, "You have a painting of Amy on your wall, do you not want mine? How do you think that makes me feel? I did this for you too you know!"
Clara stormed ahead of the Doctor into the TARDIS, dropping both paintings face down on the floor in the console room as she sought out comfort in her room.
~
About two hours later, Clara emerged from her room to retrieve her paitings.
"Just because he can't enjoy them doesn't mean I can't," Clara thought as she made her way into the console room.
But as she glanced on the floor for her portraits, she found one missing, and the other face up resting against a seat.
Clara's eyes widened and she smiled, dashing off to the Doctor's portrait room.
When she arrived, to her surprise, her portrait was not there, and neither was the Doctor.
Defeated and confused, Clara shuffled along the TARDIS corridor.
Faint music caught her attention, and she headed towards it, where she met a large wooden door.
Clara leaned against the door frame and peeked inside.
A large bed, a desk and dresser decorated the lovely blue room. The ceiling faded away to reveal a projection of the night sky.
"This must be the Doctor's room," Clara thought.
She was about to leave to avoid embarrassment, when something caught her eye on the wall facing the entrance of the room. The room was so dimly lit she couldn't make out exactly what it was.
Bravely, she walked inside and saw the painting of her nude body hung above the Doctor's desk.
"Found ya," a voice said from behind her.
Clara gasped and jumped, earning her a nervous laugh from the Doctor, who was leaning against the door frame. He walked forward to join her and took her hand, and they both silently admired her portrait.
In the painting, Clara was surrounded by bunches of yellow flowers that resembled roses. She was nude, of course, but she was not portrayed sexually. Her nudity seemed like just another aspect of the painting, the simple appreciation of the human form. The Kaguyan painted her with immense detail. The paint he used was life-like, and the painting was a mirror image of Clara.
Clara felt simply beautiful.
The Doctor smiled as if he could read her thoughts. And he could.
He kissed the top of her head and said two words.
"You are."
~
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WOW HELLO GUYS IT'S LITERALLY BEEN 1 YEAR SINCE I'VE UPDATED THIS.
I could keep apologizing and make excuses but,,,, it's almost 3 am ( so sorry if there are any missed spelling errors !!! Please forgive me it's my absolute pet peeve ahhh ) and I'm tired.
But I really hope you like this one shot!! It's kinda weird but I was listening to Arabesque by Debussy and somehow got my inspiration from that.
Please comment what you think!! Much love to you all!!
- Kaitlyn