The newcomer had a certain way about him … there was more confidence in the way he held himself, his hair and face were kept much cleaner, and he didn’t have the tired bags under his eyes that his current human captor always had. His clothes were more complicated than anything the other human wore. Bowman had only ever seen a button up shirt on TV before.
The man turned his head towards the large glass enclosure and a ripple of ice snaked its way up Bowman’s spine. Even though there was no way the humans could see him where he hid, he immediately didn’t like that human.
Not that he liked any human, but this one was more unsettling than usual.
“That where it lives?” he asked, confirming Bowman’s dislike of him. It?!
Month: July 2017
The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (2 of 5)
Jacob’s eyebrows shot up and he followed Dean’s gaze. He couldn’t see the two small figures very clearly, since they’d already made some progress walking away, but something insistent in his head said that it was indeed a mini-Dean. With another mini-Sam of his own walking with him.
“There’s a … a bigger me over there too,” he pointed out, eyeing the others in the room. The ones he could see. He glanced at the floor again, wondering if anyone else would be underfoot.
“Th-there’s lotsa everybodies,” a tiny voice piped up from the nearest table. Jacob glanced over, but he didn’t see anyone there.
A tiny table and chairs sat in the center of the table, and he stared at it for a second before noticing an extra shadow near it. Someone was hiding behind it, though the little voice was so faint and timid he could swear he’d imagined it.
He almost stepped around the table to peek at whoever was hiding there, and then reprimanded himself. He hadn’t had a great first impression on Sam. He could do better with another little person, no matter where they were.
“I guess this is the place for ‘em,” Jacob finally answered.
Dean had to suppress his first instinct to see who was hiding from them same as Jacob. The little shadow looked tiny– not even as big as Sam.
Lowering his hand to the table, Dean jabbed a finger at Jacob. “Behave!” he snapped as he felt Sam step off his hand, going over to the table and chairs made for his size.
Sam rolled his eyes at Dean’s overprotective instincts. “Dude, he’s been fine, lay off a little.”
Then his attention was drawn to the small setup at the center of the massive, human-sized table. A table and chairs, along with placemats, napkin holders, utensils set up at each seat… it was unreal. And all small enough to go in Dean’s pocket.
Sam didn’t get too close, only crouching down to see if he could spot the new person. “Hey,” he said warmly, hoping to meet another person his size, “my name’s Sam, what’s yours?”
Oscar’s cheeks warmed and he offered Sam a sheepish smile from where he crouched, under the table next to one of the chairs. His wild hair actually brushed the underside of the table, something that never happened with normal ones. He wished he could say the novelty of the mini furniture was what prompted him to hide under it. But in reality, he’d simply been startled by the entrance of more giants.
“Hi, Sam,” he greeted, inching closer. He could lean out to peek up at the others, finding another tall adult Dean but a younger Jacob.
“I’m Oscar. I like exploring in here … I was gonna go try games with my own Sam but I keep finding new things I wanna look at.” As he rambled out his explanation, he scooted further out into the open, staying near the new Sam.
Jacob, though he’d been warned to keep back, couldn’t help his fascinated staring. Oscar was even tinier than Sam, something he hadn’t even considered possible.
“Hope we didn’t interrupt your exploring, Oscar,” he said quietly.
Oscar’s eyes widened and he shook his head so fast that his wild hair was ruffled. “Uh-uh, I-I was just under the table because…. because I wanted to try hiding like a human can!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said, a smile blossoming over his face at the little guy. He pushed himself to his feet to give Oscar a little room to come out if he wanted, and glanced fondly back at Dean. “I know they’re a little big, but they both try,” Sam told Oscar. “I only just found Dean again yesterday.”
Dean took a look around to make sure there were no other little people about to appear underfoot, noting that his tiny counterpart was already over at the entertainment section with the other tiny Sam, setting up a pool table made for their size. Then, he stepped forward and cautiously took a seat near his Sam, unable to completely avoid hovering close.
He’d only just found Sam, he wasn’t about to let him out of arm’s reach.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Dean promised Oscar, folding his arms.
July 31st excerpt:
With that said, he finally slid the last length down to Dean’s hand. Giant, Jacob-sized fingers were curled up, creating a net for him to land safely in. Jacob wasted no time lifting the cuff of Dean’s sleeve as much as he could. Part of it was held down by the ropes.
“Aha!” he said triumphantly, practically diving into the sleeve. There was a blade tucked in between the shirt and jacket, just like Jacob thought. He grabbed the dull edge with both hands and planted his tiny boots on Dean’s wrist to give the hidden weapon a tug. It would be three quarters of Jacob’s length, perfect for sawing at the bindings.
The blade was big, but it was made to slide free with just a flick from Dean’s wrist, making it easy for Jacob to pull it out. The slight tickle against his wrist made Dean twitch under Jacob’s boots, but he didn’t rouse. There was only some slight flexing of those massive fingers before they relaxed.
The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (1 of 5)
Welcome to the AU lounge! A place of relaxation conceived and helped designed by all the readers and visitors to the world of Brothers Apart! Stay awhile, kick up your boots, and have some pie!
Current AUs in the Lounge:
Brothers Together (Teenager big Dean; tiny kiddo Sam; tiny kiddo Oscar)
Brothers Apart (The original Dean and Sam)
Brothers Lost (Big Jacob with the tiny bros)
Brothers Found (Big Dean and Jacob, tiny Sam)
****** New Arrivals
Dean blinked, hard, trying to clear his eyes.
Seconds ago, he’d closed his eyes to fall asleep. Next thing he knew, he was on his feet, standing in the dark outside some door with The Lounge glowing above in neon letters. A puff of warm air left his mouth in surprise, mixing with the chill of the night to turn into a brief smoke cloud, vanishing as he watched.
“Can we go in?” came a voice from his hand, and he glanced down in surprise.
Crouched in his palm, Sam was rubbing his hands up and down his arms, trying to warm up. At only four inches tall, that wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.
“Yeah, got it,” Dean said, automatically bringing his hand to his chest to try shielding Sam from the cold air. He put a hand on the door, expecting it to be closed, but it opened right up.
The cold vanished as he stepped over the threshold, and Dean felt himself relax as he stepped in, automatically looking around for any threats to Sam. Though they’d only been reunited for a night, Dean’s protective instincts from childhood had reared, and he was on guard for Sam’s sake.
“Watch it!” a voice bitched from the ground, and Dean nearly stumbled, eyes widening as he saw not one person by his boot, but two.
One hand on his hip, the other wrapped around the world’s tiniest glass of whisky, the smallest Dean glared at the newcomer. The Sam with him took a few quick steps, getting out of the giant Dean’s way as fast as he could, but his brother stood his ground.
“You can’t go walking around blind,” Dean snipped up at his counterpart. “What happens if Oscar’s around, huh? Watch your step!”
With that, he hitched his duffel up and stalked off, following Sam on their journey towards the pool tables and leaving a very, very confounded Dean standing in their wake.
Not far behind, Jacob found himself staring in confusion at the neon sign above the door. The deep bruising around one eye almost blurred the sight of it. He shrugged inwardly and gave the door a test push.
He was surprised to find the place open, but then again if he was dreaming, why wouldn’t it be? He stepped inside, only to stop short.
There was Dean, standing there with Sam on a hand. He looked shocked, like his brain was rebooting after seeing something he hadn’t expected.
Just a second later, Jacob understood why.
The place looked like any normal bar/diner kind of place. Tables for chatting, as well as tables for poker or pool were arranged all around, with arcade consoles against the wall. Some teenager only a year or two younger than Jacob stood playing, and standing nearby watching the game…
Himself?
It was definitely Jacob, wearing a hoodie like was his signature. The main difference was in height; he was several inches taller and quite a bit broader.
“Uh. Does this usually happen after you take care of a restless ghost?”
Dean was distracted enough by the strange, swaggering double of himself that was walking around down on the floor, making a beeline for the pool tables, that he didn’t glare at Jacob for getting close to Sam. As far as he was concerned, the kid was on probation for injuring Sam during their first encounter.
Jacob’s main redeeming grace was the fact that Sam was there, safely cupped in Dean’s hand. Protectively cupped, with the way Dean was eyeing up their strange surroundings even as the atmosphere of the lounge began to work its magic on even him.
“Dude,” Dean hissed at Jacob, “there is a mini-me walking around over there!” He didn’t have any more of an idea what was going on than Jacob.
Upcoming Story Sneak Peek
Out in a room, hanging from the back of the nightstand, Oscar was frozen. The crumbs stuffed into his cloth bag were heavier than ever on his shoulder, and his hands gripped the lamp cord with white knuckles.
The room was supposed to be empty.
Check in time was long past. Any late arrivals, and he’d have heard them unlock the door. Would have felt heavy footsteps walking into the little motel room. The sun had already set outside and the lights were off.
But he wasn’t alone. Passing headlights had washed across the far wall and Oscar had seen it. The silhouette of a human.
This is from one of the prompts I’ve been working on for quite some time. Not because the story is especially long, but because other projects keep coming to me much easier than this one. I’m hoping to get some more of it done very soon, and I can finally share it.
Meanwhile … whose shadow could that be?
July 30th excerpt:
Jacob was exasperated. There were gigantic fingertips as close to his throat as they could be without touching it, while Dean attempted to fix up the tiny tie. Fingertips that were callused but used to working with the tiniest parts of a gun. Jacob wouldn’t have believed a human could be so careful with something so small if he hadn’t seen it in action before.
Even so, he stood very still with his head tilted back so he wouldn’t get in Dean’s way. “Never did figure out how people could get the knot so straight,” he said, filling the silence before he could stop and think too much of how ridiculous the scene must look.
Bowman Lost Excerpt
The human took notes and sketches, stretched out Bowman’s wings and other limbs so he could note where the joints were and how they moved. He even learned, without Bowman telling him, that the wings could photosynthesize.
Bowman never opened up about how it all worked. A part of him worried just how far the giant would go for the answers, but other than some uncomfortable sessions with a wing stretched out for sketching and measuring, he wasn’t harmed.
Not on the outside, anyway.
If the wings dried out, it would be uncomfortable at the very least for the sprite. Painful, if it got bad enough. The wings are very sensitive to the air around them, so if they were dry and more brittle than normal then the poor sprite would be very sore. Of course, not being able to photosynthesize as efficiently would be a side effect, leading to fatigue and other related conditions that would make life harder for them.
As for Bowman’s fussing about his wings, he tends to go above and beyond what’s strictly needed. He might be willowy and lean, but he’s technically an athlete by their standards, so he keeps his wings stretched and fit. He preens regularly to massage the overworked joints, and he takes every opportunity to put them to use.
flash commission for @nightmares06! He’s really excited. (I would be too)
Cheapo flash sketch commissions through Ko-fi are still available!
July 29th excerpt:
Jacob was still messing awkwardly with his tie when Dean stepped out of the bathroom. His suit was on, and he was absently adjusting the collar when he spotted Jacob’s trouble. “So I guess this means it fits?” Dean asked casually as he came over to the table, eyeing up how the suit sat on Jacob’s shoulders. “Maybe not perfect, but beggars can’t be choosers…” He trailed off as he leaned in towards Jacob. They both already knew it was hard to find good clothing in Jacob’s size.
“Lemme give you a hand…” Dean offered as he reached automatically for the tiny tie Jacob was trying to straighten. He doubted a guy the size of a finger had much use for clothing so fancy, unless there were pint-sized balls by the mice in the walls.
Brothers Apart 