1) This prompt came in ages ago and I’m 99% sure it was actually meant for @nightmares06, but I hoarded it anyway.
2) It’s a really cute idea and also the thing I wrote did not end up exactly like this (since most borrowers probably don’t pray) but I think it fits pretty well.
3) My failed sneak peek guessing game was referring to this story. Surprise. It was Cas all along.
4) Long-ish read, about 2k words. Couldn’t find a good place to split it up.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
“Quiet as a mouse.”
One of Oscar’s favorite phrases, the words became something of a mantra for him when he went out looking for supplies. He had long since forgotten where he learned it. So many people came and went every day, and so many of them left the TV on full volume. Any one of them could have taught him about it.
As far as Oscar was concerned, “quiet as a mouse” was the ultimate goal. He’d learned a lot from his furry neighbors within the walls. The motel offered a haven, but only so long as no humans knew they were there.
Oscar had known the comings and goings of the mice for years. He’d taken a trick or two from them. His steps were as silent as theirs were, so his cloth-wrapped feet could carry him undetected through even the dustiest of passages.
These skills kept him hidden day in and day out checking rooms. Even occupied rooms never noticed his passing by. Humans often wouldn’t even imagine someone like Oscar (or even just a mouse) would be around.
He told himself this over and over, and still he was afraid now.
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 taller of the two Jacobs wandered over last, drawn by the bickering. Sam was back on his shoulder, a good perch for someone his size to still be able to see what was going on. Especially around all these other lookalike Deans. Jacob watched his step as he joined the others there, in case anyone else was also heading in the same direction to see what the commotion was.
Seeing Dean standing on the table, surrounded by pool balls that would outweigh him by several times, made him raise his eyebrows. Glancing between the two taller Deans and finally his younger counterpart, Jacob wondered at the fact that the little guy was … not as upset as he could be.
A number of lectures over his month or so knowing the cursed Dean came to mind. He was definitely taking this prank very well.
Jacob was ready to offer him a hand anyway, and get him out of the dangerous spot, but something else drew his attention. The door to the Lounge opened, and both Jacobs turned in unison to see who else was coming in.
It looked like another Dean, judging just by the posture and the spike of hair on top of his silhouette. What set him apart from the others, though, was the fact that there were two small figures on his shoulder, not just one.
The newest Dean blinked, working to focus on his strange new surroundings. One minute he was in the car, falling asleep under the stars with his two brothers– one related by blood, the second adopted into the family that day– the next, he was here. Fully clothed, his hair a sharp spike, he was certainly dressed for a night on the town.
On his shoulder, Sam wasn’t alone. Next to him was a second familiar figure clinging as Dean took a swaying step into the lounge.
“Dude, come on in!” The original Dean beckoned them over, tossing his pool stick from one hand to the other. “You’ve gotta see this place!”
With him distracted, the smaller Dean set out determinedly for the edge of the table.
The taller of the two Jacobs standing near the pool table kept an eye on Dean for a second, making sure he could get himself to safety unhindered. Then, assured the little guy wasn’t about to tumble into a side pocket, he offered the new Dean a welcoming smile and a wave as he approached. “Just be sure to look out for Oscar. He could be wandering anywhere.”
The younger Jacob forgot his manners in a stunned silence for a second. His eyes were on the new guy’s shoulder and the pair perched up there. “Dude,” he hissed, elbowing his counterpart in the side.
A third Jacob had arrived, and he was cursed-size.
“Holy shit,” both the tallest and smallest Jacob muttered, one amazed and one apprehensive.
The newest Dean blinked as he looked around the room. “Ain’t I seein’ double?” he asked the figures on his shoulder. “Is that–”
Sam shook his head, his hair flying into a mess at the violent action. “That’s Jacob!” he exclaimed, pointing at the shorter of the two, then he hesitated, his arm drooping as he looked at the second Jacob, taller and broader than the first.
As though a six-foot tall Jacob wasn’t big enough.
Dean replaced the cue ball on the table, and Sam attempted the shot again, this time hitting the ball off one of the solids and sinking it in the pocket. He grinned.
“We found Godzilla,” Dean corrected the younger Jacob, looking away from Sam’s lesson. “Or at least, his pie.”
The so-called ‘Godzilla’ smirked again and shrugged. “Looks like us Jacobs have trouble with first impressions,” he pointed out. “And yet Dean here still gave me a job as their driver.”
Younger Jacob’s eyebrows went up. “You got to drive the Impala?” It was obvious to anyone who saw Dean near that black-and-chrome behemoth that it was important to him. The care that went into that car was meticulous.
“Jacob helped rebuild the Impala,” Dean corrected again as Sam took another shot. “Since Dad didn’t have the heart to drive her anymore.”
Sam sunk a second ball, straightening proudly. Now he was closing the gap between him and Dean. There was a chance he could turn this lesson around on his older brother. He lined up a third shot while Dean was distracted lecturing two Jacobs.
“And now he’s part of the team,” Dean finished, “since we needed a driver. Hey–!”
Dean finally spotted Sam as he sank a third ball, huge grin on his face. “You were saying about lessons?”
The older Jacob smirked. Sam always had that way of keeping Dean in check, especially since his size made him extra hotheaded. Inwardly, he was proud all over again that he’d gotten enough trust to be invited along on hunts with the small Winchesters. His younger self would probably get his own Dean’s trust, eventually.
For now, he was welcome to hang out with them. Older Jacob leaned down slightly to count out what remained on the pool table with Sam slowly turning the tide in his favor. “Got some catching up to do, Dean,” he quipped, knowing it would just rile him up even more.
Younger Jacob cracked a grin of his own. He reached down to the stand where the unused pool sticks waited. It took some work, but he managed to pinch one in his fingers without knocking the others over.
“I got next game,” he jested, brandishing the little thing proudly.
Dean gave Jacob a flat look back, but Sam chimed in, “You bet!” as he sunk his fourth in a row.
“Since when are you a sniper?” Dean bitched as he sized up the table, and Sam missed his fifth hit. “You didn’t even know what chalk was a few minutes ago!”
Sam shrugged. “Beginners luck?”
And he grinned.
“Or just a good hustle,” the older Jacob muttered, his own grin widening. He hadn’t had much chance to get to know this Sam yet. He did know, however, that Sam knew all the precise buttons to push to needle his brother. Growing up together with almost no one else around would do that.
“Good thing you didn’t put anything on the line for this game,” younger Jacob added in.
“Maybe next time,” Sam said, sauntering to the side.
Dean took a few more shots, glowering when he scratched on the second, and Sam took his place. The game was quickly over between the brothers as Sam took out each of his balls one after the other, and the last was a double, and then the eight ball in the corner pocket.
Jacob mirrored Sam’s smirk, though he tried to make sure Dean didn’t spot it. He took his leave of their table and felt less like he was looming over Sam and Oscar so much. Even up on the table, they could easily fall into someone’s shadow.
He wandered closer to the entertainment area where his counterpart stood. The kid on the arcade machine was intent on it, and Jacob noticed belatedly that someone else was on the mini-version of the arcade console, too. The systems were put together so well that Jacob couldn’t even tell who was playing who.
Getting closer, he realized there were two small figures at one of the tiny pool tables. The other Jacob was absently watching both games, hands in his hoodie pocket.
“Hey,” Jacob greeted, unsure. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk to himself face to face, but wasn’t actually sure what he’d say.
The older Jacob grinned. “Hey, dude, good to see another me around. But who gave you the shiner?”
The newcomer Jacob touched faintly at the bruised skin around his eye. “I uh. The Dean I know actually decked me pretty soon after meeting him. Didn’t … make a good impression on him.”
“Score one for the Deans!” Dean called up to the Jacobs as he bridged his fingers on the pool table, pulling back and striking at the cue ball. The tiny clinking of pool balls could be heard from down on the table as he took the first shot, scoring two balls in the pocket holes. “Awesome!” he declared, prowling around the side of the table to size up his next shot.
Sam was standing to the side, absently rubbing the tip of pool stick. Having shrunk at ten, he only remembered a few vague lessons from Dean on the game, all done furtively at the bar while their dad was busy. Dean had declared it time for some overdue lessons the second he discovered there was equipment tailored to their size, including pool sticks aplenty to choose from. He’d tested the heft and weight of a few, finding one that felt perfect to him and had Sam test out some.
Dean lined up his next shot, and sunk it in the side pocket. “See that, Sammy? Just gotta learn from the master,” he said, just this side of preening as he took another shot. This one bounced off, and he surrendered the table to Sam.
“So, Dean got the best of you?” Dean called up to the new Jacob by their table, smirking. “Godzilla over here is regretting the first time he grabbed me, let me tell you.”
The taller Jacob rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it. Instead, one hand emerged from his pocket and he held it out to show off two healing scars. One adorned his fingertip, and the other had been a nasty gash closer down on his arm. “They definitely make an impression, these Winchesters.”
Younger Jacob’s eyebrows shot up. He held up his thumb, displaying the bandaging wrapped tightly around it. His ‘impression’ from his own Sam was much more recent. “Sam really caught me off guard with his knife,” he agreed mulishly. He knew he’d earned it.
“Looks like your Dean had something to say, too,” older Jacob said with a grin. “Don’t worry. If he’s anything like this guy,” he pointed a thumb down at the tiny, smug Dean on the table, “he’ll probably come around eventually.”
Young Jacob nodded, glancing between the three of them. “So … I’m guessing you found them together?” he asked his older self. “I just found Sam, we had to go find Dean.”
Sam focused on his shot, trying to ignore the banter around him. His pool stick hit the cue ball, and the white ball jumped.
“Scratch!” Dean said sternly. He picked up a tiny blue square from the edge of the table and tossed it at Sam. To either Jacob, it would look the size of a grain of rice, but for the brothers it would serve its purpose. “Don’t rub the chalk off the tip,” he chided as Sam begrudgingly chalked his pool stick. “Try again.”
“Oh,” Oscar replied, finally edging all the way out from under the table. He glanced past the new Dean to the new Jacob, noticing that the other human didn’t opt to sit at the table, too. Oscar couldn’t blame him; sometimes Dean (any Dean!) could be intimidating.
Oscar fidgeted with his little cloth bag while the other Jacob glanced around the room. The others were probably picking up the facts about the place like anyone new did. The Lounge had that weird effect, but no one really questioned it.
He decided he could always help it along, too. These were another Sam and Dean, new versions of his best friends in the world.
“You can go talk to anyone and rest wherever,” he explained to the nearby Sam. “There’s lots of everyone here, the other Jacob even came with a Sam and a Dean our size! The smaller Dean really likes the pie the bartender makes, I tried some and it’s good.”
“I bet it was,” Jacob answered with a smile. He was endeared by the tiny child hovering near Sam, but opted to keep some distance. He didn’t want to give the Dean he knew a reason to snip at him again; Jacob had hurt his Sam, and was still on probation for it.
“Yea, I think we already met those two,” Dean grumbled, remembering the mini-him that had snipped at him first thing.
“Dean got himself in trouble,” Sam chimed in. “Gotta watch his step around… himself.” He was bemused by the entire concept of a brother standing at his scale. A snicker leaked out, unable to contain it anymore.
Oscar covered his mouth with a hand, but it didn’t stop a quiet laugh of his own, catching it from Sam. He was only keeping up with how many Deans there were because the atmosphere of the Lounge helped him. He couldn’t even imagine what the actual Deans and Sams were feeling, seeing so many doubles of themselves. Part of him hoped a group might arrive with another Oscar so he wouldn’t be the odd one out.
“It’s kinda scary walking out in the middle of the floor, but I kinda like that we can,” he mused. Going back home after this would be a bitter disappointment. “I can show you around, if you wanna, when you’re done resting. I’ve been exploring since I got here.“
Jacob smiled faintly. Oscar was opening right up after starting out hiding from them, though he stayed close to Sam. It probably comforted the kid to have someone his own size nearby; he was so tiny.
"I might go and say hi to … me,” he said, offering the kid a little wave. “But I’ll take you up on your tour if you want to later.”
“Kay,” Oscar answered shyly, tilting his head back to meet Jacob’s gaze. He wasn’t as tall as the other Jacob just yet … but he was still a big human.
“Just don’t bugging any of the smaller guys,” Dean warned Jacob, glued to his seat so long as Sam remained near Oscar. “Me or not.”
Sam rolled his eyes and stalked over to Dean’s hand to deal a sharp kick at it. “Dean! You’re the one that’s making a bigger deal out of things than you should!”
Dean’s eyebrows went up in mock offense, moving his hand out of range of Sam. “I’m not the one who got myself caught!”
Sam flipped Dean the bird and turned back to Oscar. “I’d love to hear what you know about this place,” he said welcomingly. “It’s a good start before we go… pissing off any other Deans.” He smirked.
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.
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.
“Jacob.” The warning tone in the human’s voice startled them both. They flinched back and looked up to find the human staring darkly down at them.
Only a second later, he slammed a fist on the table barely two inches from where they stood, and Oscar cried out. They both fell back to a seat.
“Oliver here hasn’t been through any conditioning before, so I can understand his lapse, but you, Jacob? You know the rules,” the human said, as disappointed as a person could be. He took a seat at the table and clasped his hands in front of him. “Care to tell us which rule you just broke?”
Oscar’s eyes were wide and he trembled as the human leaned close. His face was set in a no-nonsense expression, and Oscar shied back from it. Jacob, on the other hand, set his expression in a wary mask.
“I … uh. Don’t speak unless spoken to?” Jacob offered. “But I thought that wouldn’t apply-”
The clasped hands moved too quickly for either of them. They each found an index finger shoving them onto their backs and pinning them down. Oscar squeaked in pain and Jacob grunted, and the human stared down at them dispassionately. “We have a reputation in this business, you know. High quality product. Y’think I got us here by selling you off with half-arsed training? Do better.”
The fingers lifted off of them and Oscar took a breath. He squeezed his eyes shut and rolled over onto his side while his back pulsed with pain. Beside him, he heard Jacob sigh and get to his feet wearily.
“Oliver. Get up.” The human’s words left no room for ambiguity. That was an order, and he expected it to be followed.
Oscar shuddered again and pushed himself back to a seat before scrubbing at the tears in his eyes. He grimaced as he rose the rest of the way to his feet, standing extra small next to Jacob, whose eyes were on his shoes.
“Very good,” the human praised. Oscar shuffled his feet and couldn’t bring himself to look up at the man. “Let’s get started.”
A hand reached out and snatched Oscar up. While the human began listing various rules and guidelines for how they were meant to act, the huge hands casually moved Oscar back and forth from one to the other, sometimes pinching around his waist and sometimes holding him in a fist. Once he even dangled upside down by his leg before being plopped down in a palm.
Handling. The human was simply trying to force him to get used to handling and being talked over.
“You shiver too much,” the human determined, partway through his explanation. “Customers don’t like that.”
He deposited Oscar on the table and grabbed Jacob instead before either of them could predict the movement. Oscar watched as Jacob was subjected to all the same handling, turned this way and that. It was like he was little more than an object to be fidgeted while the human held a conversation more with himself than with his tiny captives.
The worst part was seeing how Jacob hardly struggled at all. He winced at times, and Oscar knew his burns stung him more than once. And yet, the kid tried his best not to fight what was happening to him.
They were both helpless.
It was hard to guess the time, but it had to have been hours by the time the salesman carried Oscar and Jacob back towards the room with the cages. Oscar, despite the constant throbbing pain in his back, scrambled to the front of his own cage once the human deposited him on the floor.
He was just in time to see Jacob dropped into a different kind of cage, this one with no bars on the front and barely an opening at the top for air. It looked more like a safe than a cage, and its door was heavy when it closed up.
When the human had them both locked up, he smirked back at Oscar. “Don’t get attached, Ollie. They never buy pairs.”
And then he left them all alone in the room of cages once more.
When Oscar could walk again without too much pain to his back, the human that tended to his bandages didn’t visit as often. He had others to attend to, so he said. Oscar couldn’t help but wonder how many others like him waited in cages, nursing their own burns. How many had come before him and left already?
The smooth-talking human that sent him to be branded on his first day in the new city would come by instead. He wandered the room, peering into cages and talking to the prisoners within.
When the man came to Oscar’s cage one day, Oscar lingered in the farthest corner he could. He couldn’t press his back against the metal without sending a jolt of pain over his healing burn, but he did his best to keep the distance between them.
The human had a glint in his eye that Oscar didn’t like. “Ah. So skittish. It’s time you got over that, little one. Most customers don’t want something too frightened, not from us.”
The man’s impatient face blocked everything else out. Oscar stared silently out at him and tried not to let his tears escape.
He didn’t know how not to be frightened in such a terrifying place.
The human rolled his eyes. “You’re one of Noriko’s dolls, I’d have thought you’d be more socialized.”
The mention of the first human to keep him trapped, to treat him like an object, sent a shudder down Oscar’s spine. He closed his eyes and ducked his head. The man was right. He should be used to humans staring in at him by now, and a part of him was. The rest wouldn’t let go of that fear.
The human scoffed. Oscar wasn’t looking, so he didn’t notice the man moving until he heard the metallic clang of his cage front opening. He looked up in time for that hand to dive in after him.
He tried to push himself back, only to flinch forward when the action hurt his burn. The front of his shirt provided the human a handhold on him, just like the first time he’d ever met him. He dragged Oscar out of his cage in that pinch grip, no matter how his tiny shoes pushed against the floor.
Oscar found himself dangling over the floor in front of the man’s dispassionate eyes. “Christ,” the salesman muttered. “Here I thought you’d be more ready to go.” Oscar squeezed his eyes shut and tried to curl himself into a ball. Every movement stretched and strained his back, and the skin might as well be on fire again. His cheeks glistened with tears.
The human wasn’t moved, but he did let Oscar drop with a pained yelp to his other palm. “Alright, conditioning for you, then,” he spat, though it felt more like he was talking to the air than to Oscar. His fingers curled closed over his palm until the much smaller man was immobile in his fist.
“No one bothers to tell me these things,” the human complained to himself. “Could’ve been working on this one this whole time and had him ready for turnover. Louts.”
Oscar squirmed in the human’s grasp, but not for escape. The thick skin folded around him, ensuring he’d never be able to get out. Instead, he tried to find an angle that didn’t strain his back. The curve of the human’s palm pinched at him and he had tears in his eyes from the pain.
Footsteps jarred him, but Oscar didn’t care about where he would go. He’d been taken to other rooms before, never knowing the direction. They always made sure he wouldn’t be able to find his way around, if he ever found himself free of a cage.
Another metal door opened, and Oscar paused in sheer surprise. The human spoke to someone inside another cage. “Alright, you get some conditioning for today, too. Come here, titch.”
Oscar’s heart pattered. He was going to see someone else his size. It would be the first time in months.
Even though they were both captives of humans that wanted to sell them away, it was something.
Oscar waited with a confusing mix of emotions twisting up in his chest. One part of him was relieved, another part eager. Another part was sad to think of finally seeing someone else sharing his fate. The last part of him, a tiny voice in the back of his head, was afraid of what he’d see.
He knew they had arrived when the hand around him swung forward and abruptly opened. Oscar slid down the tilted palm and landed on a table. An overhead light filled the cramped room with its yellowish hue, but Oscar didn’t pay any attention to the walls or other furniture. He pushed himself up on his hands and knees in time to see the other captive dumped on the table only a few inches away.
The human didn’t sit right away. As he turned towards a cabinet in one corner, the other small person picked himself up and looked over at Oscar, mirroring his surprise to see him.
The guy was younger than Oscar, but he couldn’t be sure by much. He was tall. Easily almost four inches even, if not more. He rushed over to help Oscar to his feet.
He must have been burned, too. Underneath the bedraggled hem of his hooded jacket, Oscar saw the pristine white of bandages like his own. This person didn’t have doll clothes like Oscar did yet.
“Hey, buddy,” the kid greeted in a soft voice. “You okay?” He got a stunned nod from Oscar and smiled with relief. “That’s good. Man, it’s been forever since they’ve let me see anyone else…”
Oscar, his head tilted back, remembered to answer. “Y-yeah. Me too.”
The stranger’s eyebrows went up. He noticed, just as Oscar had, that they both shared an accent, very unlike the humans they’d met so far. “Damn. Sounds like you came a long way just like me,” the stranger whispered. “What’s your name?”
Oscar couldn’t help but think back to the last time someone had asked for his name. Mina, the human that sent him on a plane so far away from home, and she hadn’t even written down the right name. “I’m Oscar,” he replied, whispering just like his fellow prisoner.
The stranger nodded. “Nice to meet you, Oscar. I’m–”
#auv stands for An Unexpected Visitor! Certainly Dean never imagined who he would find sneaking about in his room, searching for food…
He was under the bed when he heard it.
A key, probably more than half Oscar’s height, sliding into the lock on the door. Ice surged through his veins and he froze. There was nothing else he could do.
Oscar had a view of the nightstand between the two beds, beyond a forest of dustbunnies, as the door creaked open. With agonizing slowness, a piece of wood impossibly tall and heavy for someone his size swung open to admit the human checked into the room. Oscar’s legs tensed. He’d gotten himself stuck in rooms with humans in them before, but it never got easier. He was too small.
Heavy footfalls that Oscar could never miss vibrated through the floor. Same usual routine; a few steps, then the percussive click of the door shutting. Oscar held his breath and stared straight ahead.
Something crashed onto the other bed, and before Oscar could glance in that direction, the entire world around him quaked. The bed frame and the mattress it supported both released noises of protest as the human crashed onto them. Thinking quickly before he could yelp in terror, the room’s hidden occupant lifted his hands and clamped them over his mouth. Oscar stared upwards at the underside of the mattress with wide brown eyes.
For a kid barely more than two inches tall, just a step could cause a small earthquake.
Oscar was used to the feeling of humans walking around. They were always stomping about as they got ready for something or other, and Oscar tried his best to keep himself well out of their way. He was still learning the routines, though, and hadn’t expected anyone in this room for some time.
It was hard to learn these things by himself, but he didn’t have any other options. Oscar’s mom was gone and she had been for a while. He had been seven when he last saw her, and he was eight now, he was sure. It was so hard to navigate a world so big by himself.
She would have known what to do in this situation. He was under the bed with a human in the room, and he didn’t have any exits into the walls. It was safer in there by far, where he could take quiet steps and keep to himself and the humans never bothered with it. They were giant, unpredictable people in most things, but at least they could be counted on to ignore the space that Oscar called home.
He glanced across the floor, past piles of dustbunnies and the wide expanse of worn out carpet. Past the second bed and the dresser was his vent, low in the wall.
It felt so far away. Oscar lowered his trembling hands from his face and took a slow, quiet breath. At least he knew how to be quiet.
He was frightened of the human above. Oscar had found a small, stale piece of a cracker. It was probably from the previous motel guest, but if this one found out he took it, he could be mad. Then he might want to hurt Oscar, and the tiny child would be helpless.
He crept towards the edge of the bed. His wrapped feet pushed softly through the dust piles until he was just at the edge of the bed. He stared straight up.
He almost ducked back immediately at the sight of a hand draped over the side. It wasn’t moving, so he took a slow breath instead. He could do this. All he had to do was move quickly and stay out of sight. So long as the human stayed up on that bed and slept, he’d be fine.
Biting his lip to steel himself, he clutched his bag closer. Then, he bolted across the space between the beds. All he had to do was dive under the other one, and he’d have a safe place to get closer to his vent.
Halfway out, he tripped on the thick carpet fibers. Stumbling, he toppled forward and landed on his front with a quiet Oof! that sent ice up his spine.
Brothers Apart 