Sam absently opened up his safety pin, feeling the cool metal under his fingertips. The point wasn't as sharp as it would have been if he were still human, but the point was enough to do damage if he gave it enough force.

He took a step back, staring straight up at the nightstand. His nemesis. Behind them, Dean switched to a cross legged position so he'd be comfortable. This type of learning might take some time.

The first toss went wide. The pin didn't come within an inch of the nightstand during its arch. Sam was, however, surprised to see how much air it caught. It sailed up the two, three feet without a problem. He missed his catch and it clattered to the ground a few inches away.

Sam's ears burned and he knew the others were watching him without having to look back. He gathered up his pin as fast as he could, getting back into position. His second toss was carefully thought out, and this time it actually landed on the wooden surface. Tongue sticking out in concentration, he tried to carefully pull it towards himself to get it to catch the way Oscar had earlier when he'd climb to the table.

The pin reached the edge and teetered. His heart jumped for a second, thinking he'd got it on his second try, but the pin slipped off the edge. Sam let out a hiss of frustration. "Dammit!" he blurted out.

Oscar stepped forward and caught the pin out of the air before it hit the carpet, his eyes wide with understanding. He remembered being just as frustrated when he first learned how to do this, and he'd even been younger than Sam. It was harder than his mother had made it look, and harder than Oscar made it look now.

But Oscar had gotten good at it out of a desperate necessity. At least Sam didn't have that breathing down his neck while he learned. He had an audience, sure, but at least he was safe.

"It's the hardest part," he told the other boy, handing his pin back. "Here ... l-lemme show you how I do it," he offered, standing back again to take aim. His own safety pin wobbled a little in the air, but still clattered over the side of the nightstand where he'd anticipated. He bit his lower lip while he slowly pulled his pin back towards the edge. When part of it was teetering, he stopped and glanced over to Sam.

"The string is really sensitive so you just gotta be careful with how much you tug on it." With those words, he pulled lightly on his own thread, teasing the pin into place until it slipped into place, anchoring itself against the edge of the nightstand. Oscar then gave it a stronger yank to make sure it was secure.

Sam pursed his lips as he watched, trying to memorize every move that Oscar made. A familiar single minded determination had fallen over him now that he was learning how to throw his new grappling hook, and he would get it right, no matter how many times he had to try.

Biting his lips, he held the pin up and stared at the edge of the nightstand far above their heads. He let himself focus on that and only that, pushing out any and all other distractions from his mind. The background noise from outside dropped away and Dean ceased to exist behind them. He couldn't even hear the steady gusts of breath from the large teenager as his line of sight narrowed to the nightstand. It was all he could see or focus on.

It was with that level of concentration that Sam tossed his pin for the third time. Once more, it landed at the top. Once more, he carefully pulled it to the edge. He paused with it teetering, just the way Oscar had done, then gave a light tug on the string.

This time, it didn't fall down at him. He saw it actually catch on the side, anchoring itself in place on the edge. Sam glanced over at Oscar, his concentration falling away as he came back to himself. "Did I get it?" he asked excitedly.

Oscar stared straight up, comparing the way Sam's pin anchored against the nightstand with his own. They looked about the same, and he grinned. It was very likely that Sam had done it, after slipping into what looked like pure determination over the task.

He inched over to test it, just to be sure. Oscar took hold of Sam's thread and hauled down on it as hard as he could, even picking his feet off the ground to swing on it for half a second. The pin held fast and his smile brightened. "You got it!" he cheered, looking up at Dean too, sharing in the pride of the moment.

"Great job, Sam. Now you can climb it," he said, going back to his own thread where he'd left it and taking hold. "This part's easier than getting the pin in place, I think."

Sam took his thread back in hand with a grin, ignoring a finger tousling his hair. Dean's own way of congratulating him. He couldn't even get annoyed at him at that moment, knowing Dean just didn't want to be left out. For the first time in a month, Sam wasn't the one who felt out of place with his size.

Sam pushed at the finger, shooting his grin up at Dean to show he didn't really mind. But it was time to try climbing now and he didn't want any distractions. He gave a tug on the string, mirroring Oscar's actions to test how stable the line was and if the pin was going to slip from its anchor. He weighed more than the younger kid so it wouldn't be a good idea to just climb without testing it himself.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to steady himself. This was going to be a lot different than climbing up a rope in a gym class where there were knots to help out, and a ton different than climbing up a tree outside. His hazel eyes opened and he stared up at the towering length above him. He could do this.

With that, Sam pulled himself off the ground. The thread, thin as it was to a human, was actually a pretty good rope. It gave him plenty of grip and he could see why Oscar used it so often. His arms shook a little as he went, not used to climbing up with just his arms. He got a few inches off the ground, and a hand moved underneath his dangling feet. Sam might get annoyed at Dean's overprotectiveness from time to time, but he was thankful for the help this time. If he fell off, even from only a few inches in the air, he could easily break an arm or a leg. Determined, Sam pulled himself up another inch.

Oscar waited until Sam was a few inches ahead of him to follow. He pulled himself off the ground and twisted the thread once around his tiny leg to secure it, pinching it between his cloth shoes. Climbing that way, he was able to pull himself arm over arm and catch up, though he held back to be able to keep an eye on Sam's technique.

Of course, the hand sliding under him as soon as he was high enough did make Oscar tense up a little. He wasn't used to having a safety net at all, let alone one made out of a human hand. He knew he'd avoid getting hurt if he fell onto it, and he knew he could trust Dean to be careful. All the same the thought of falling right onto a hand bigger than him was nerve wracking.

Nerve wracking, and he knew he'd be very very embarrassed if he ended up falling down while he had an audience.

About halfway up the nightstand, Oscar opened his mouth to call out a tip to Sam. He could see the other boy's arms were shaking from exertion, and he could try to pinch the rope with his shoes like Oscar did (and considering his shoes were actually shrunken human ones, they might work even better for the technique). But, having his focus distracted and his body turned to watch someone else climb was just what needed to happen for Oscar's own grip to slip.

He gasped in surprise and fell backwards, but he only flailed his limbs for a moment before he landed on his back on a somewhat plushy surface. After the impact, Oscar regained his breath and got an upside down view of Dean looking down at him.

"Oh no," he groaned, covering his face with his hands to hide the blushing erupting there. He'd gone and made a mistake while he was supposed to be teaching someone. It was mortifying.

Dean got a huge grin on his face at the embarrassed reaction from Oscar. "Guess we should get you some practice along with Sammy," he lightly teased the kid that had landed in his palm. He held his hand so the thread fell into the center next to Oscar.

Sam twisted in place, wrapping his arms around the thread so he could see what the excitement was. He added his legs to keep himself stable, watching Oscar with wide eyes. If Dean hadn't been around, the other boy would have fallen down from over a foot up in the air. A dangerous height for either of the smaller kids to fall. Even now, he could see the height lurking past the edge of the hand under him as it swayed in place. Dean was too distracted with the other kid to notice his hand moving.

"You okay, Oscar?" Sam called out, clutching the thread.

Oscar sat up and hastily got to his feet to take hold of the thread once more. His face was absolutely burning from the mistake, and he had to take a moment to compose himself after the brief scare. Even though he was embarrassed, he was at least glad Dean was there. He could have broken something if he fell that far.

"I-I'm fine," he mumbled, starting on the climb once more. "I was just turning too far. Slipped." Even excusing the mistake didn't help with the blushing that just wouldn't leave his cheeks. He was supposed to be the one who knew what he was doing, after all.

Now that he knew Oscar was all right after tumbling into Dean's grasp, Sam resumed his own climb. It was hard to get back into the swing of things. Every single move he made would send the thread shaking. The hand under him was all that kept him going. He knew if he made a mistake like Oscar, the most he might get was some extra teasing before getting back on the rope.

Dean kept both of his hands steady under the tiny forms, newly motivated to keep a close eye on them. He couldn't help but fret at the idea of either of the tiny children climbing on their own. One slip was all it would take for them to get hurt. And yet, based on Sam's normal stubbornness, he had an idea it would be almost impossible to stop the kid once he got started. Not that he could bring himself to try. It really was a huge danger for Sam to be unable to get himself around on his own.

Of course, that just meant Dean was going to have to shadow both kids while they were practicing, no matter how much Sam bitched.

It took about five more minutes before Sam carefully pulled himself over the top edge of the nightstand, small feet briefly kicking in midair while he shoved himself up with his arms. He rolled onto the shelf and flopped onto his back with a huge sigh to wait for Oscar to reach the top.

Thankfully, Oscar didn't have any more embarrassing mishaps on the way up the nightstand. He focused on his own task, instead, seeing that Sam had a good enough grasp of the activity that he didn't need to watch so closely. He was only a few seconds behind the other boy thanks to his setback.

He pulled himself over the edge of the nightstand, also kicking his little legs for balance as he hoisted his body over. As soon as he made it, he grabbed his pin and pulled it up with him so he couldn't accidentally knock it all the way to the floor.

The blushing had almost completely left his cheeks, though some lingered out of sheer embarrassment and also some exertion. Even his small weight was enough that his thin arms could get a bit of a work out just hauling himself around. "W-well, you did really good, Sam. You're already pretty good at climbing."

Sam grinned broadly as he sat back up. He leaned over to pick up his own pin from the edge. His own pin. "Thanks!" He stared down at the ordinary, everyday object that could now be his way around the world without any help, and carefully started to wrap the thread around it. He didn't want to risk tangling it at all, and he'd definitely be using it more.

Dean shifted back to his knees, and leaned forward a little to see them better now that he didn't have to spot the two youngsters with his hands. "I don't know about you two, but I think it's time to get some food," he announced as he put a hand on his knee and pushed himself off the ground. "How's Chinese sound?"

Sam brightened at the thought. They hadn't had the money for food like this in a long time, but with the credit card left with them they could afford to splurge. There was more than enough on it to get them by for the entire month. It was probably a lingering side-effect of John's guilt for Sam's curse that had caused him to leave such a large sum of money in Dean's hands, something that didn't often happen.

"Egg rolls?" he asked Dean, eyes growing a little round at the thought of how big egg rolls would be now that he was small. He wouldn't have to worry about running out of food.

Dean made a face of disgust. "Can't you order something with a little more taste sometime?" he complained a bit. Whenever Sam had leftovers, he always finished them off. After years of barely being able to get by, it went against his nature to let any kind of food go to waste, even the stuff that he didn't like. He sighed when he saw the hopeful expectation on Sam's face. He couldn't say no to that. "Whatever. How about you, Oz?"

Oscar flinched in surprise, blindsided by the question. He hadn't expected an offer like that, regardless of whether or not he actually understood what 'egg rolls' or 'Chinese' meant. He paused in reeling in his thread, glancing between the two brothers thoughtfully.

They clearly both knew what they were after. And with Dean being so big, it'd be easy for him to make it happen. Oscar was not used to asking for something specific. He ate what was given to him and he appreciated it no matter what, because it could be the only meal he'd get in 24 hours.

Living so sparsely didn't lend itself to picking a favorite food. Oscar took that to heart and had decided very early on that he liked all food. So after a long pause he finally shrugged.

"Could I j-just ... have some of whatever you guys have? What is Chinese?" He closed up his pin and started to wrap his thread around it carefully, same as Sam, to keep it neat before he stored it away. "I've never heard of anything like that."

Dean walked off while Sam thought over Oscar's questions. "It's food that came from China," he said helpfully. "It's really good, but we don't get to order it very often. You'll love it, trust me." He frowned thoughtfully. "Dean likes to get a bit of everything, so if you want to try stuff you'll have plenty to pick from. Just don't wait too long or it'll be gone." Sam could never decide whether he should worry about the fact that Dean could finish off a veritable mountain of food compared to him, and usually just chose to not think about it.

Dean's shadow fell over both of them as the teenager came back over. "Ha ha, very funny, pint-size. Y'know, you used to eat like that too. It's not just me." He sat down on the edge of the bed with a menu in hand, flipping through it. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he read through the offers.

Oscar didn't say it, but he was certain that he would eat that way too, if given the opportunity. He was used to saving aside portions of food, though, so having to limit himself was no longer much of a task. He knew about how much he could get by on until he needed to eat again at a minimum.

But now, they were about to have a portion of food big enough for a human nearby. And the brothers had suggested that he was welcome to it. Oscar couldn't help the smile that began to warm upon his face. "So ... I could really try any of it? You don't mind?"

He was going to have to hope they let him keep coming back, at this rate. Oscar was already eating better than he usually did, if they were going to give him an entire meal again after the pizza the day before. His eyes were brighter than usual and his body had more energy, just from being able to eat enough pizza that he was full. And they might let him do that again with this food from China (wherever that was).

Dean's eyes flashed to Oscar for a second before returning to the menu. "Dude, of course. 'Sides, it's not like either of you will make much of a dent in the food anyway. Sam always snitches stuff when he thinks I'm not paying attention." Finding what he wanted, he reached over their heads to pick up the phone.

Tucking the phone between his ear and his shoulder, Dean dialed out the number for the restaurant. "Hey, Lucky Chen's? I'd like to place an order for delivery…"

A/N

I remember being a kid and not liking the most random things, like cheese on pizza or eggs at all... I'm sure in a few years Dean will be hoarding the egg rolls. Yum.

Next: December 28th