Tumblr Prompt from nerdalert394: Ten/Rose, Something rips/destroys his trainers and Rose helps him deal with the terrible loss.

This gets a bit silly.

I've got just a couple more prompts, then (for those who follow me) I'm getting back to the next story in the Parallel Lines series.

"Run, Rose!" said the Doctor, taking Rose's hand as they sprinted back to the TARDIS.

"What'd we do this time?" asked Rose, having no clue what had prompted the sudden anger from the heavily armed guards.

"There was an incorrect translation," he replied, dodging a mud puddle as Rose splashed through the edge of it. "The TARDIS translated your words right, but your inflection changed the meaning entirely. You called the king by a very inappropriate name."

He grinned at Rose as they rounded the final corner towards the TARDIS, the blue box coming into view.

"Can't say he didn't deserve it, mind you," he added.

Rose laughed, and the two made it into the TARDIS just as their pursuers rounded into the alleyway. They shut the doors behind them, and the Doctor quickly took them into the time vortex.

"So, tell me what I said wrong in case we land there again?" said Rose.

"When you say 'box,' be sure to put the emphasis on the 'o.' Make it at least three times as long as it should be in English," he explained, "and you'll be fine."

He smiled again and took a step toward her, then froze, looking down at his shoes.

His red trainers were covered in purple polkadots.

"Rose," he breathed, stricken. "My shoes! They're ruined!"

Rose walked closer to look at them.

"They're just spots, yeah? Can't you get them out?" she asked.

"No," the Doctor replied mournfully. "I must have gotten some of the mud on them. That particular form of mud reacts permanently with some materials, including the dyes in this particular pair. They'll be stuck like this forever, Rose!"

"Can't you wear one of your other pairs? Or get new ones?" suggested Rose, a little puzzled.

"These have sentimental value," he said with a sniff. "I can't just replace them. They'd be heartbroken."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Well, they still work, right? So just wear them with the spots."

The Doctor stared, jaw slack, looking at Rose as if she'd been covered in spots herself.

"I can't mix a pinstripe suit and polkadots, Rose!" he told her incredulously.

"I suppose you're already pushing limits with the shoes and suit," she mumbled. "And what's wrong with wearing the shoe in different colors and just keeping this pair for the memories?" she asked.

"The red goes best with my hair, of course," he replied, eyeing her as if questioning her sanity.

"Okay, well," she started, "how about we go take your mind off this, then, since there's nothing we can do about it anyway, yeah?"

"Yeah?" said the Doctor, looking at her hopefully. "Do we get to do the thing?"

Rose sighed while smiling inwardly.

"Okay, Doctor, we can do the thing," she said, and he grinned and bounded away.

O~O~O

When he joined Rose several minutes later in the galley, she'd made him a banana split with extra banana, topped with jelly babies. The Doctor beamed at her, smoothing down his pinstriped pyjamas as he shuffled his bunny-slippered feet to his favorite seat at the table.

Rose set a fizzy drink in front of him before she joined him, her own drink in front of her, twisty straws in each.

"Can we do it now?" he asked, excitedly.

"On three," said Rose. "And remember, last person to make enough bubbles for the glass to overflow has to clean up after. Ready?" He nodded, and she continued. "One, two, three!"