Sam edged forward, peering curiously at the small knife the kid had used. "I've got a knife, too," he said. He touched at the dull blade with a hand, nudging it to the side before picking it up. The electrical tape felt thick and rubbery under his hands as he examined the small blade. Compared to the knife he'd gotten from Dean for his birthday that year, the edge was dull and worn. Sam's remained sharp and glinted silver in the light. He had it tucked away in his jacket at all times ever since being cursed. He didn't want to risk being separated from the handcrafted weapon. It was his protection, and it was reliable. Just like Dean.

Oscar glanced up, but finished off his bite of food before trying to answer. It was kind of funny to him that Sam looked so interested in the knife. It was a pretty basic tool, after all. Just slapped together out of what Oscar's mother could find so he could have a knife in case he needed it.

"It's good to have one," he said. "But ... where do you keep it? Don't you have other supplies? Where's your climbing rope?" Oscar couldn't hold it in any longer. He had to know how Sam could be comfortable without his supplies close by. He couldn't climb anywhere very well without a rope of some kind, and surviving at this size was practically based on climbing.

Climbing and sneaking around. But Sam had only been this size for a month. Maybe he spent so much time with Dean that he'd never even needed a climbing rope before. "Do you ... d'you know how? To climb a rope?"

"I, ah…" Sam faltered under the unexpected onslaught of questions, caught off guard by how intent Oscar was on them. "I've climbed a rope before!" he protested, focusing on defending himself. "They had ropes to climb in gym class when I was in school!" He'd even managed to set one of the class records getting to the top. With the knots set in the rope, it was an easy climb compared to some trees he'd found while hiking with Bobby and Dean to learn tracking skills.

Sam pulled his knife out of his jacket to show Oscar. "Dean made me a sheath to hide it with, before I was, y'know, cursed. He made the knife, too, without any help, for my birthday this year. Good thing, too. I had it on me when I got attacked, so I'm not defenseless."

Oscar admired the knife. The metal was shinier than anything he'd ever seen up close, and the craftsmanship on it was obviously far better than anything he or anyone he knew could have made. It figured that it was shrunk down from human size; only humans really had the resources to make something so artfully. Oscar didn't even need to glance at his own cobbled-together knife to know how shabby it looked in comparison to Sam's knife.

He ate some more of the pizza, his stomach demanding the food now that he had it in an amount he could indulge in. He didn't have to measure this out, because more was sitting right in front of him if he wanted. Oscar might actually learn what it felt like to be full.

"That's a really nice knife," he finally said, tilting his head to get another angle on the shiny metal. It was an understatement. The knife Sam showed off was the nicest Oscar had ever seen. But something was still missing.

"If you don't climb, how do you get everywhere? What if you wanted to get to the dresser? Or anywhere?"

Sam put his knife back in his jacket. The cool metal slid along the sheath with a snick. "Well, Dean helps me," he said shyly. He glanced up at his brother, offering him a faint smile knowing Dean was listening to every word. It was hard on both of them. If he was alone in a room, he could be stranded on a table until someone remembered to check on him. It was a scary thought, and Sam counted himself lucky to have Dean around. He was only rarely left on his own.

Another scary thought, though, was being down on the ground. Sam hadn't been down there since shrinking, and a shudder went up his spine. Seeing the world from the table or the bed was bad enough; dark shadows loomed overhead and everything that used to be normal was now colossal and out of reach. Down on the floor, it would be a thousand times worse. Normal, everyday items would dwarf him, and he wouldn't even reach over Dean's ankle. It was easier to pretend life was normal from a higher surface.

"Isn't it scary down there?" Sam asked Oscar. "I've never gone on the floor. I'd be afraid of running into spiders or mice, and…" He trailed off, not wanting to say he'd be afraid of his own big brother down there.

But he would, and his small heart fluttered at the thought of seeing their father from that perspective.

Oscar's cheeks turned a little pink at the question. He was sheepish again, but not enough to hide what was on his mind. "W-well ... I think it's kinda scary out in the rooms no matter how high up I am," he admitted. And it was true. Even without terror of Dean overwhelming him, Oscar was still nervous outside the walls.

Out here there was so much space around him. There were not enough places to hide. He was exposed, in view of any human that might come in and decide to grab him. He'd learned well enough that his legs weren't long enough to carry him away from a determined human. He'd be caught just like he'd been caught between two hands and dragged into the air at incredible speeds.

"But, you wouldn't need to worry about mice," he added as an afterthought. "Spiders are awful but mice are nice. They're soft and warm and I even know one that lets me hug her sometimes."

"Really?" Sam asked, his eyes wide as he listened to the younger boy. "I always thought that animals like that would be dangerous. I mean, they're all so big now. And I'm..." Sam wrapped his arms around his knees, drawing them close at the reminder of how small he was.

He was only vaguely aware of Dean putting a hand next to him on the bed supportively. There was no way for Dean to really know what it was like for Sam, being so small, but he tried his best. A finger gently touched Sam's shoulder.

"So..." Sam started hesitantly, curious all over again at the thought of having the freedom to go where he wanted to again, "you can climb all the way up to a table? All by yourself?" He wouldn't have to bother Dean all the time if he could get himself around the room. Even after just a month small, the reliance on Dean was wearing thin. He'd do anything to be able to go wherever he wanted to, without having to defend his actions against his larger family members, no matter that they meant well for the most part. Dean more so than John.

Oscar nodded, glad for something to focus on other than the hand that settled so near. It was amazing that Sam was actuallyused to that. To a fingertip bigger than his head settling on his shoulder supportively. He and Oscar had such a different view on human hands. To Oscar, they were the ultimate danger, worse than spiders or rats or traps. To Sam, they were his safety and his lifeline in a world he'd been tossed into without warning or preparation.

Oscar brushed his hands off on the piece of napkin, making sure any grease from the pizza was gone before he sat back again. He pulled his bag onto his lap once more and dug through it. After shoving aside a shard of a potato chip he'd found, he drew out his own lifeline. A closed safety pin with dark thread tied to one end and coiled around it was his climbing hook, and it was Oscar's best tool for his mobility.

"I use this," he explained. Eager to show off the grappling hook he'd made (one of his first ones ever), he hastily uncoiled the thread and let it pool in his lap. With a minor grunt of effort, he pushed on the pin to unclasp it and it sprang open. The metal, once shiny, barely gleamed at them in the light.

"I'm pretty sure the thread's long enough to reach the table," he mumbled as an aside, glancing down at the pile of black thread by his legs.

"Oo, cool," Sam said, fascinated. He inched forward, picking up a piece of the thread to run it through his fingers. It was thick enough to double as rope for him or Oscar, and he could imagine climbing up it just like he'd done in gym class. "You've got to show me sometime!"

"No way he can climb with just that," Dean said in disbelief. He leaned over the other two, peering curiously down at the safety pin on Oscar's lap. "It'll slip off the table before you get a foot off the ground and you'll fall!"

Sam rolled his eyes dramatically. "Just because you're afraid of heights doesn't mean everyone else is, Dean," he pointed out. "I can probably still climb higher than you in a tree no matter what size I am."

Oscar angled his face upward while Dean looked down at them. He could swear he felt a faint breeze with every word the human spoke. He was so big, and his face eclipsed much of the room beyond him. Oscar tensed up from intimidation, but didn't bolt like he almost wanted to. He had to keep reminding himself of what Sam told him.

He's a nice human. Not gonna grab. He's Sam's brother. He gave me pizza.

Not surprisingly, it was the memory of Dean giving him food that jolted Oscar out of his concerns. He frowned indignantly at Dean and held up the safety pin to show it off more clearly. "I-I can too! I do it all the time!" he boasted, though it was a slight exaggeration. He only got up on the table on a few occasions, but he wasn't about to explain that.

"I guess you'll just have to prove it then, won't you," Dean said teasingly. He caught a glare sent his way from Sam's seat. "What? He said he could, I just wanna see it!" He didn't mention the fact that he thought it must be awesome to be able to scale furniture like that. It would be like Oscar was a two inch ninja, sneaking into places they'd never expect.

Sam shoved at his hand. "You're just jealous," he said dryly. "You wish you could climb like that."

Dean lightly poked back, nudging Sam enough to make him tumble over onto the cover. "I'm not the only one that can't scale up a table, pint-size."

Sam batted his hand away, grumpily sitting back up on the bed while he tried to nonchalantly brush himself off.

A/N

What? Sam, you don't have supplies for climbing? How do you get from place to place? How even?

If you have a prompt idea for the story, please tumble on over to the tumblr and drop it in my askbox!

Next chapter updates November 30th.