They were off like tiny shots. Even with their somewhat cumbersome parcels to carry, the two younger kids gave it their all running towards Dean. Tiny legs barely an inch long stirred up the air and pushed off carpet fibers that were thick and coarse to them rather than the intended soft and fluffy that Dean would feel.

It went against everything Oscar knew, to run towards a human. And yet, he did his best to keep apace with Sam, determined not to fall behind. He knew he'd be safe, even when he was in grabbing distance of the enormous teenager.

His bag almost slipped out from under his arm once or twice, and shifting it while also running was an interesting adventure. It made him lose a few steps, but Oscar was speedy. He managed to regain some of his lost ground in short order.

Racing out in the open made it easier to avoid thinking of how high above them the ceiling was, or how far around them the floor stretched in every direction. It made something that was normally so nerve wracking into a fun experience. Oscar's heart pounded, but not from fear; it was purely from the thrill of playing a simple game, and he had a smile on his face as he ran.

Sam was intent on keeping his footing as he ran alongside, and briefly in front of, Oscar. It wasn't the easiest with the strange landscape of the motel room carpet. He'd been used to the ground always being flat when he was walking around before he was cursed; now it was thick enough that he could easily get a foot caught on a tangle of fibers that would send him and the peanuts sprawling.

Past the halfway point Sam had to adjust the bundle in his arms. It was beyond awkward to run with the napkin-wrapped peanuts and he had to gather part of the corner so that none of the food slipped out of it. Sam grit his teeth when he saw Oscar slip ahead of him for a moment. The other kid was fast for his smaller size. He ignored the sight of the room around them, completely set on reaching Dean first and winning.

With their focus on the game instead of on the wide expanse of open air around them, the distance was covered in no time. What could have been an unnerving trek across a space that offered no hiding places and no sense of safety had become their track, their chance to win a little game. When they finally reached Dean and Oscar staggered to a stop, he wasn't even sure who was winning.

He took a few deep breaths and continued to smile over at Sam. "Wow," he breathed. "That was pretty fun." It was so different from what he was used to. He'd just tried to get to a human first, rather than bolting in the opposite direction in the hopes of avoiding said human. He angled his face upwards towards Dean, his eyes wide and bright with enthusiasm.

"S-so how did we do?" he asked, eager for Dean's judgment on their little race.

"Hmmmm…" Dean pretended to look them over, sizing up the pair after the race. He was taking his time stretching out the moment he announced the winner, relishing the chance of being involved with the game despite everything else.

He cracked a grin at last. "It was a tie," he announced. "You two run a close race."

Dean nudged Sam with a finger. "We're gonna have to train you up, pint-size. Maybe next time you'll come out on top." He gave Oscar a wink at the same time, knowing the other kid had more reasons to be quick on his feet. Necessity was a powerful teacher.

Oscar beamed, though he probably would have been happy regardless of the outcome of their race. In the last few days alone, he'd found so many reasons to be happy, he was practically giddy with it. He let his bag hang at his side once more, now that he wasn't running, and shuffled one of his small shoes against a particularly worn down carpet fiber.

"It prolly didn't help that you had to carry that big bundle," he pointed out to Sam, his eyes drifting to the napkin in Sam's arms. The napkin he was carrying to help Oscar have more food. If not for that, he probably would have won; his legs were longer than Oscar's were, after all.

He drifted towards the wall, stopping an inch or two short of the vent. One glance down the metal corridor revealed a familiar route, a way he had walked many times in the last year, and that now he'd be joined on by a friend. Oscar looked back out at the room, gaping overhead and around them, while he waited for Sam to make sure he was ready. He didn't want to make the other kid nervous rushing into the walls if he'd never been there before.

Sam bounced on his heels. "You had that bag to deal with too," he said to Oscar. "I'm not the only one with stuff to carry!"

His entire body was jittery after the race, and he had a hard time staying still as he glanced at the metal vent. To him, it had a darkness inside and he could feel nerves trying to rise up in him and keep him from traveling inside. He couldn't stay still as he shifted from one leg to the other.

Before he was ready, he glanced up at Dean. "You won't be far when I come back, will you?" he asked as he remembered he'd have to come back to the vent and slip into the room again.

Dean nodded down at him. "I'll watch out for you, don't you worry." He lightly nudged Sam on the side. "You're not getting cold feet, are ya?" he teased.

"Nuh-uh!" Sam protested. "I'm ready to go, I just want to make sure you'll be where you're supposed to be!"

Oscar giggled quietly at their exchange, and then climbed up to stand on the edge of the vent, this time avoiding stepping right in the line of salt. He was halfway in the room and halfway in the walls now, where he stood. The space between the grates was more than enough for him to stand in comfortably, though he did have to shove his bag aside to make room for it.

"We can go put that stuff down real quick," he mused, grinning at both brothers in turn. "And then come make sure Dean's where he's supposed to be." The faintest hopeful note tinged his words. Oscar loved his home and he didn't mind being in the walls at all. But it was fun out here, far more than he anticipated when he first timidly stepped back into the room.

"Don't worry," Dean said, rolling his eyes. "I'll behave." He arched his eyebrows at the two of them. "Maybe I'll even work on my homework while I hang out on my own."

If Sam hadn't been holding the bundle of food, he would have tossed his hands up in amazement. "Wonders never cease," he called up with a grin at Dean's expense. He made his way over to the vent and pushed the napkin of peanuts onto the edge before he pulled himself up as well. "Is it gonna fit?" he asked, critically eyeing up the opening into the walls.

Oscar slipped the rest of the way into the vent, hopping down the short distance. His feet made the faintest metallic echo when they hit the floor of the air conditioned corridor. He observed the bundle of food from the other side, before nodding. "I think it'll fit," he determined. To prove it, he reached out and carefully tugged the bundle through, drawing it into the vent after him.

"An' you'll fit too," he commented with a grin once the task was done. Oscar waited just inside the vent, with the light still on his face from the room. His encouraging smile would be impossible for Sam to miss, and even Dean might still be able to see it if he leaned down just a little. "I'll lead the way, so don't worry about the dark ... I guess it takes a little getting used to, but I keep the path clear."

Dean leaned over to watch as Sam squished himself into the vent behind the bundle. The smaller Winchester didn't have a hard time fitting, so it was probably a way that adults Sam and Oscar's scale would use to to get in and out of the rooms as well.

Dean wrapped his fingers around the slits of the vent. They were thin enough to fit at least for this. "Be careful Sammy," he said in a hushed whisper. It was going to be one of the first times that Sam was completely out of reach for him since the curse, and he could feel the tension in his shoulders.

Sam punched one of the fingers. "We'll be fine," he called out, peering through the vent. "Don't worry, okay?"

Dean poked back at that. "You say that like it's easy, pipsqueak."

Sam gathered up his bundle of peanuts. "Lead the way!" he said brightly, hiding any nervousness he felt at the darkness.

"Okay," Oscar replied, glancing at the fingertips that had worked their way into the slits of the vent. He hoped Dean wouldn't worry too much about Sam. After all, they weren't going very far from him, but then again Sam wasn't part of the world Oscar lived in. It would probably continue to amaze the younger kid that Sam hadn't grown up with darkness like this around him. To Oscar, it was kind of comforting.

"This way," he muttered, starting down the hall made of metal. He took slow steps, remembering that he didn't need to hide the sound of them as much. It was only Dean that might possibly hear them, and Sam probably needed help finding his way.

When they reached the edge of the light that bled into the vent, Oscar stopped. It was only a little bit longer before they reached his little door in the metal, but he looked back at Sam to check on his friend. Oscar felt a little bit like he was taking care of Sam now, the way the other boy had taken care of him when he was nervous. He reached out and placed a tentative hand on Sam's arm, wrapped around the napkin full of peanuts. "Can you see? I can guide you, i-if you need me to."

"I, ah…" Sam trailed off, trying to blink rapidly to clear up his sight. It didn't do much good. The only light he could see was behind them, coming from the vent in the motel room. The room where he could hear his brother moving around. It was beginning to sink in what a terrifying sound that would be if he didn't know the human in question. How easily they could end up captured if they were trapped in a room with a stranger.

"It's really dark," Sam admitted as he let those thoughts slide away. "I can't really see much." He wasn't about to turn down help when he really needed it. He didn't have anything to prove here. "Thanks."

Oscar offered a smile. "No problem," he muttered back, starting up his slow, careful walk once more. This time he kept his hand on Sam's arm, guiding the blinded kid along. Oscar could still see well enough for the both of them, and when they reached the loose panel that led out of the vents and into the walls themselves, he stopped and gave Sam's arm a slight squeeze to let him know to stop too.

After pushing the small, loose piece of metal aside, Oscar looked over at Sam. He could see that those hazel eyes were open wide, trying to see the world around him. "Lemme take those for a second," Oscar said quietly, gathering Sam's bundle into his arms and setting them aside. "There's a little door here," he explained, guiding Sam's hand to the edge of it. "Only a little ways further to my house from here. I can hand the food through to you."

Sam touched the edge, running his hand up it so he knew the basic outline of the door he was going to slip through. "Okay," he said, his voice instinctively soft in the darkness. It felt… wrong to talk normal inside the walls like this.

Once he had a vague idea about the shape of the door, he made his way through it. It was smaller than he'd expected, but not toosmall for the kids to make it. Inside, he blinked again, trying to resolve what little light he could into shapes. "Ready," he said, reaching out blindly for the package of food that Oscar was holding for him.

Oscar placed the parcel in Sam's hands with care, making sure he didn't spill anything and making sure Sam had it before letting go of the weight. With that taken care of, he slipped through the door himself, finding it quite roomy for his skinny frame. Even his overladen bag fit well enough through. He tugged the metal panel back into place, making sure it was sealed, before finding Sam's arm again in the dark.

There was a smile on his face even though Sam couldn't see it. Oscar was kind of excited to show his home to his friend. "We're almost there," he said in a hush similar to the volume Sam had used. It just made sense to be a little quieter in the dark.

Indeed, they were. Oscar's fabric shoes and Sam's human boots made faint scrapes against the dusty concrete as he led the way towards his house. It was nestled away, barely around a corner ahead of them, and by the time he reached the wooden block that was his door, he was practically bouncing. "We're here," he whispered excitedly, taking his hand back to shove the block aside with a scraping sound.

Light, courtesy of the crack on the far wall, leaked out into the walls, illuminating the slightly uneven shape of the door. The main room really was barely wide enough for Dean to stretch his hands out in it. The curtained shelf that was the pantry was visible from outside, taking up the nearest wall, and just standing in the doorway revealed the makeshift table with the two chairs made of spools.

Oscar let Sam in ahead of himself before pushing the door back into place, and then watched the other boy's face to see what he thought.

A/N

The time has come to explore!

Next: February 8th