#Also I said 864 days without hugs because that's how many days into the Hephaestus mission Securité is

[hephaestuscrew]

I go back and forth on whether I think Securité was the first time Minkowski and Eiffel hugged. Because on the one hand, I think that by the end of season 2 Minkowski and Eiffel are friends who are deeply important to each other, and that Eiffel is a physically affectionate person, and that Minkowski gives really good tight hugs when she wants to. And if Minkowski and Eiffel didn't hug before Securité, then it seems probable that neither of them would have hugged anyone at all in 864 days. 

But on the other hand, there are still emotional barriers between them by the end of Season 2. Eiffel isn't expecting Minkowski to hug him in Securité and he doesn't initiate a hug himself. And if you don't expect to hug your friend after you've been presumed dead in deep space for over 200 days, then when would you expect to hug them? 

Minkowski apologises after hugging Eiffel in Securité. And it's not completely clear if that is just for the tightness of the hug and the lack of warning, or if she's apologising for hugging him at all. Eiffel says "it's all right. Don't apologize for hugging", and that could mean it isn't a big deal because they've hugged before, or it could be giving her permission for a new way of interacting. He could be telling her that it's all right, they can be people who hug each other.

We don't know whether Minkowski and Eiffel ever hugged before Securité, but we do know that she carried him to the lab during his Decima attack in Do No Harm. We know that as he convulsed after collapsing, she told him "It's okay, I've got you", which I think implies she was holding him. And going all the way back to Cataracts and Hurricanoes, we know that when he nearly drowned in his spacesuit, she brought him inside. There's just something so emotional to me about the idea that before Securité, Minkowski might have only ever touched Eiffel in a gentle or affectionate way when he was unconscious and at risk of dying. And then, after he gets stranded on the shuttle, for a while she thinks he is dead, or as good as. He's lost in deep space where none of them can reach him. And when he returns, this time she grabs hold of him and she doesn't want to let go.