Title: Tactless
Fandom: Doctor Who
Author: badly_knitted 
Characters: Clara, the Twelfth Doctor.
Rating: G
Word Count: 371
Spoilers: Deep Breath.
Summary: Someone has to teach the new Doctor some manners, and Clara can only hope she’ll prove equal to the task.
Written For: Challenge 210: Rude.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who, or the characters.




In Clara’s admittedly rather limited experience, the Doctor has never been particularly blessed with an abundance of tact. When he’s not being frustratingly evasive he can usually be counted on to be honest, even when that honesty is a bit uncomfortable to hear. This new version is a different matter entirely, and not in a good way.

She could probably accept the change in his looks, and even the Scottish burr, which in itself isn’t unpleasant to listen to, but rather than the occasional lapses of tact she’s grown accustomed to, this version of the Time Lord is downright rude! The honesty remains, but it’s marred by insensitivity. There’s absolutely no filter between his brain and his mouth; he thinks something and he says it without the slightest concern for anyone else’s feelings. Worse, he doesn’t even seem to realise that other people have feelings, and that his harshly critical and insulting words can hurt them. Either that, or he thinks other people’s feelings aren’t worthy of his consideration. His arrogance is as jarring as his rudeness.

If she was the only one he spoke to like that, maybe she could learn to live with the casual insults and the vastly superior attitude, just shrug it all off, let it slide. But he’s like that with everyone he meets, and they’re not all going to be as tolerant of his intolerance as she’s schooling herself to be.

She’s a teacher though, fully trained and quite experienced despite her youth. Someone needs to take this Doctor in hand, teach him some manners, including how to be more respectful of others, and she’s just the girl for the job.

The Doctor’s past self was right; this new version needs her, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Being unforgivably rude to complete strangers is only going to land him in even more trouble that he usually gets himself into; therefore it’s up to her to provide a buffer between her completely tactless friend and the rest of the universe. Maybe, if she’s lucky, somewhere along the way she might be able to instil some more acceptable behaviour into him. Then they can both benefit from this relationship as they learn from each other.


The End