Oscar let out a quiet laugh and pushed himself to his feet. After a day spent huddled and stressed in a hood, and after the running around earlier, stretching out felt good. He lifted his arms over his head, still hardly adding anything to his tiny height in doing so.

"I guess we'll havta think of something you can play, too," Oscar mused. After all, the game earlier, consisting of chasing back and forth and little else, was a little unfair in the human's favor. He'd demonstrated that easily enough. Pinning both kids under his hand and then catching them in a few sweeps made tag a little too easy for Dean.

Oscar didn't know many games. His mom always had him practice hiding in their house so she could come find him, and that was a promising option indeed. Hiding in the big open room offered a lot of different options, and he wondered if the brothers would think it was a good idea. It would be a game Dean could play and it'd help Sam with being "quiet as a mouse," as mom always used to say.

"M-maybe hide and seek," he said, pursing his lips after the suggestion and hoping it at least wouldn't seem too silly to them. At least they still had climbing practice to think about while they considered. "Sometime. It might be fun."

"I think I can manage that." Dean thought for a moment. "I think I already know where I'll hide," he said. There was a sly gleam in his eyes.

Sam cracked up and bounced to his own feet. "There's no way we'll have trouble finding you! You're too tall," he reminded his brother. He kicked at one of the hands Dean had draped on the table. "I bet we find you in no time flat," he boasted.

Dean couldn't help but snicker at that. "Maybe," he conceded. "But! Don't forget it takes you longer to search the room, pint-size." He poked at one of Sam's small legs, barely longer than an inch in length. "Even with Oscar helping ya."

Oscar was practically bouncing on his feet with excitement. He hadn't thought the response would be this good. But even Dean was enthusiastic about the game idea he'd had. He was already going over hiding places within the room himself, and he didn't even know when they'd play.

"S-so long as you don't go outside," he threw in for good measure. It may be obvious that he and Sam couldn't possibly follow if Dean went out the tall door. But he had to say the warning just in case. His grin widened. "And you'll have to try to find us, too, if you can."

"You don't have to worry about it," Dean said reassuringly. "If either of you two go anywhere close to the outside, it's only when I'm around." With a matching grin to Oscar's, he ruffled both kids hair, enjoying the disgruntlement he got back in return to how messy he'd made their bangs.

"But if we're laying down ground rules," he said, sobering up a little. "Just make sure you don't hide anywhere underfoot. You both need to stay safe, no matter what." That, more than anything, was what drove him anymore. After seeing his little brother get attacked, he refused to let Sam suffer again, and now that same feeling had extended to Oscar, the kid who'd survived on his own barely over two inches in height.

Oscar paused in fixing his messed up hair to shudder. The very thought of hiding somewhere that could get him stepped on was too grim. It was a move reserved for the desperate, someone who had a prayer and no other options for hiding out. The enormous, heavy shoes that humans wore could crush him out of existence more assuredly than their hands could.

So he let his hands drop to his sides and nodded emphatically. He wouldn't need to be told twice. "Okay. There's still a lotta room to hide in anyway," he reasoned. The rules laid out didn't handicap their ability in the least.

He was excited to give it a shot, but he was aware of the other list of things that needed to be done yet. With wide eyes, he glanced between the brothers, so knowledgeable about things he never even considered. All because of ... "Do you havta do 'homework' next? Or did you wanna practice climbing?"

"We should do homework…" Sam said uncertainly.

Dean waved that off, the way Sam would expect. "We've got all night for that," he pointed out. "And there isn't as much today. You might as well work on climbing."

Normally, Sam wouldn't let his brother dissuade him so easily, but he wanted to learn as much as Oscar wanted to teach him. It could be his path to freedom from any reliance… surely that was more important than working on math problems for a school he wouldn't even see in less than a month?

Sam teetered on the brink of a decision, torn for a moment. They'd still go to school in over a month, but his teacher for how to climb and anything else related to his size, something arguably more important than school had ever been, wouldn't be there.

"Okay," he gave in, knowing that this meant Dean wouldn't be working on homework either. "Let's climb." He grinned, suddenly excited all over again at the thought of getting around the room on his own.

In short order, Dean had gotten the group back over to the nightstand where Sam's hook and thread remained. The shorter piece of furniture was a good place to practice the skill, with its sturdy sides and shorter climb. Climbing the table, with nothing around in the gaping space underneath it, was daunting in its own way.

Oscar set his bag next to the alarm clock and uncoiled his own thread, peering over the side. "Well I guess to start you can try to climb down," he mused. "It can take some practice, too. It's hard 'cause you can't look at where you're going as easy." Trying to twist around to look anywhere but forward or up could make someone fall, as Oscar had demonstrated last time.

Opening up his pin, Oscar hooked it carefully on the edge of the nightstand, and sat down with his legs dangling over the side. He looked over his shoulder at Sam, patiently waiting for the other kid in case he had questions or worries.

Sam imitated Oscar's motions, setting up his pin the exact same way. He pushed at it to see how well it was anchored to the edge of the nightstand and gave a sharp nod. It didn't move at his touch.

Of course, then it came time to peer off the edge of the nightstand. The ground telescoped beneath his dangling feet, and he had to lean back to compose himself. Earlier, he'd climbed without really looking down. If he'd tried to sneak a glimpse, Dean's hands were there to reassure him.

Now, he could see what it was like for Oscar every time he needed to climb. Sam took a deep breath. Can't let Dean see you're nervous, he told himself. For a second his eyes met the eyes of the large teen, who was sitting next to the small bedside table. There was nothing but curiosity and support in them so he wouldn't need to worry about teasing.

Yet, at least.

Sam glanced at Oscar. "O-okay, now what?"

Oscar was not as affected by the height when he looked over the edge. He couldn't afford for it to make him nervous, so he'd gotten over that very quickly; he was willing to bet that Sam would too, once he got the hang of it. After all, Sam was brave. He even stood up to Dean, someone so much bigger than him.

Of course, actually thinking of how he normally climbed down was an interesting thought exercise. He never usually had to think about every step he took in the process. He just did them. But now, he needed to explain every detail to Sam so he wouldn't get the other boy hurt.

"Um, w-well, maybe just watch me first," he suggested, getting up. He turned so his feet were planted right on the edge of the table, one on either side of the hook while he held the thread in his hand (guarded by his sleeves). For the moment, he ignored the fact that Dean's hand hovered below. He needed to operate as if it wasn't there. "Getting started is the tricky part," he explained further, pausing in that position for Sam to get a good look at his stance.

There were a number of ways to actually get started climbing down. Normally, Oscar would have already hopped backwards and planted his feet against the edge of the drawer on the front of the nightstand, creating the initial tension in his climbing rope to begin the rest of the slide down. Instead of doing things so quickly, he leaned his small weight backwards a bit before shuffling his feet over the edge, tightening his grip on the line. Once he had made it partway down, he moved his feet so they were pinched around the thread instead.

"Just, um," he said, pausing while still hanging right there mere inches from Sam. "Just make sure you get yourself over the edge without just pulling the hook off instead. Then it's easier than climbing up, I think!"

Sam gulped, but after arguing with Dean that he wanted to learn, he couldn't turn back now. He nodded to show Oscar that he was listening, then followed the other boy's lead. The hook shook a little as Sam leaned backwards, but his weight wasn't enough to pull it off of the nightstand from that angle.

Dean's hand was instantly under him as the thread tightened in his grasp. Sam's grip tightened even more, his knuckles white. Just don't look down. That's the trick. Don't look down.

Once he was off the shelf, he followed Oscar's example and took his feet away from the edge. Sam slipped an inch down and gasped, wrapping his legs around the thread. His eyes scrunched closed. You're fine. You're fine you're fine you're fine. Dean's right there. He's not gonna let you fall.

Eventually he managed to pry his eyes open and move his feet into the same position as Oscar. "I think I've got it…"

Oscar, watching carefully, offered Sam a grin. He really was doing well for his first time doing that, even though it was kind of a scary thing. A fall from that height could lead to several broken bones, but with Dean's help, Sam could practice without worrying about that.

"Yup, you got it," Oscar agreed, proud of the other kid. He glanced over Sam's hands and feet, making sure they were in good position before going with the next steps. "Now you just do what you did yesterday but move one hand down at a time instead." Oscar demonstrated, moving carefully hand under hand down the length of thread.

It was the more basic way to get down from someplace higher up. Oscar was looking forward to showing Sam some of the more advanced ways. Climbing up really only had the one option, since they were fighting gravity, but climbing down meant they could use gravity in their favor, especially if a quick escape became necessary.

Sam followed behind him, hand over hand as he lowered himself down. Holding himself up this time around was just as strenuous as climbing down had been the first time around. His arms had never developed muscles for this kind of activity.

He'd just have to keep practicing so it would get easier.

Dean lowered his hand at the same rate as Sam moved along the thread, overseeing his little brother's progress. His eyes didn't show as much stress as they had the first time around, but his hand didn't waver.

This time, neither of the two practicing climbers ended up falling before reaching the floor. Oscar was pleased about that, both because it meant Sam was getting some good practice in and because he didn't embarrass himself falling like last time. Maybe that fall was just a fluke; he'd tell himself that at least.

When Dean's hand was out of the way for him to set his shoes down on the worn carpet fibers, Oscar let go of the thread. It swung faintly next to him while he grinned over at Sam. "You did really good, Sam," he complimented. Even though he'd never done it before, Sam was clearly proving himself to be a natural at this.

Sam dropped to the ground with a grin. "Thanks!" He shot the grin up at Dean, glad to see his older brother didn't seem bored by his new pastime of watching over the two kids that were smaller than his fingers climb around. Far from it, in fact. The teen seemed fascinated by the two of them and Sam could imagine why. Too bad they'd had to discover that there were smaller people in the world by Sam being cursed by a witch.

He gave the thread a sharp tug, trying to free the pin from above. Nothing happened. "How'd ya get it down before?" Sam asked Oscar curiously, remembering how easily he'd done it.

Oscar couldn't help the quiet giggle that bubbled up out of his throat. Only some of it was amusement at Sam's attempt to free his pin from the edge of the nightstand. The rest was sheepishness that he hadn't anticipated the need to show this, too. At least Sam had demonstrated to himself how secure the pin was once it was properly in place.

Getting it out of that, of course, would take more than just tugging on the thread. "R-right, just grab the thread and give it a good flick," Oscar explained, doing just that while he spoke. A wave of agitation rushed up the thread to where he'd anchored it, jostling the pin from its position so it fell towards the floor.

The silvery pin fell straight down, hardly affected by the air in the room, and it was simple for Oscar to catch it safely in both hands.

Sam stuck his tongue out as he mimicked the motion. His own pin came loose, and he ran forward to catch it. He almost missed, snagging the edge at the last second. "Got it!" he declared happily as he ran back over to the other two. "Didja see?" he called up to Dean, brandishing his new equipment for his brother to see.

"Good job, pint-size!" Dean congratulated him as he held up a finger. Sam smacked it triumphantly. He held out the finger to Oscar next. "You're pretty slick yourself there, Oz."

Oscar straightened as the fingertip approached him, a little amazed that he was receiving the gesture, too. At first he'd been confused, but seeing Sam's easy reaction had reminded him; he'd seen 'high fives' before, but never in a form like this. He had to grin as he mimicked Sam, smacking the fingertip and once again ignoring an opportunity to tell Dean off for the silly nickname he'd decided on. He was too excited about being included in the much bigger kid's praise.

"Th-thanks! I got lot of practice before, but Sam is learning faster than I did," he pointed out with an encouraging grin. Sam might wind up being better at it before they knew it.

That didn't bother him in the slightest. Oscar felt a strong pride growing that he was helping someone out like this. Someone who might otherwise not be able to learn how to climb a rope like he needed to. And he had made a pair of friends, the first ones he ever had. His smile wouldn't go away completely at the thought.

"Sam is also older than you were when you started to learn," Dean allowed. "Not to mention the kid always climbed any tree he could find when we were outside. Those just weren't as high up as that nightstand there, and we didn't have to worry about any sheer cliffs."

"Just annoying big brothers," Sam chimed in. "Not that you'd ever have a chance against me."

A/N

Sam's still got a lot to learn. He's going to put his all into it so he masters his new size!

Next: February 1supst/sup