#tiny oz

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.

Oscar glanced around to see what the others were doing, but no one else seemed to notice anything amiss. With a sigh, he found a space under one of the tables and huddled down. Maybe, if he didn’t come out for a while, it would be like he had left, without actually going anywhere. Maybe.

A pair of shiny black leather shoes and black slacks ambled towards the table. They definitely didn’t belong to any of the Deans or either of the Jacobs. Those guys all wore jeans. Oscar wasn’t the only one, in fact, watching the progress of those steps with rapt attention.

The bartender never came out from behind the bar, it seemed. Until now.

Oscar huddled even smaller as the steps came towards the very table where he hid. He tried to scoot around the base to put something between them, but stopped just as the footsteps did. As he watched, the man knelt down so he could see under the table.

Golden eyes that usually lit up with some hidden mischief fixed on him right away, and Oscar froze. There was almost pity there. He was so surprised that he didn’t even argue or try to squirm away when a hand reached under the table to scoop him up. He clung to the bartender’s thumb as he was lifted up, out from the shadows.

“Hey, champ,” Gabriel greeted him, smirking at the kid. Even to him, a head shorter than any of the other human-sized folk in the Lounge, Oscar was small when seated on his palm. “You got a job to do.”

Oscar huffed quietly and pushed himself to his feet. He felt like it hardly made a difference at all; he still looked so tiny on a hand. Whoever was still watching from other tables could probably hardly see him.

“I … I don’t want to,” he admitted, his voice breaking in the middle. His eyes stung and his vision blurred, but he tried to keep it together. He really tried.

The bartender’s eyebrows went up and he shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ manner. “I know it, kid. I put together a pretty sweet place to hang out. But right now you gotta go.”

Oscar took a steadying breath and some quiet tears raced down his cheeks. He couldn’t quite find the words to explain just how lonely he would be if he left. Here, he had multiple copies of his only friends in the whole world, and then some. Here, he was warm and safe and fed.

“I don’t wanna leave,” he echoed. He didn’t even try to brush away the tears this time and he sniffled. “Why can’t I just stay here?”

Gabriel sighed and his invisible wings shifted uncomfortably. He was all about playing pranks whenever possible. He reveled in the kinds of things humans could come up with on their own, and when it called for it a playful nudge was always ready. And, when he thought they needed to be taught a thing or two, he was right there with a lesson tailor made to them. Just desserts, like a cake with their names iced on the top right before he tossed them into a wormhole (to name one of his simpler examples).

This kid … as far as he knew, there wasn’t a lesson he needed to be taught. He’d definitely earned a chance to stay in a place as awesome as the Lounge, but…

“Sorry, kid. I don’t make the rules … well, I did. But they’re like that for a reason.”

Oscar stared imploringly for a second longer before ducking his head and brushing at his eyes. It only made room for more tears to come, as he all but gave up on his argument. He didn’t have it in him to fight hard like the Winchesters did.

“Woah, woah, buddy,” Gabriel said, interrupting the kid’s crying and ignoring the others completely. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come back, now did I? You just gotta go take care of something and then,” he snapped the fingers on his other hand, “you’ll be back and your friends will be waiting.”

Oscar didn’t look up, but he nodded anyway. He knew the Lounge would welcome him back, but he wished he didn’t have to go. Not back to what he had in his actual reality.

“I’ll getcha to the door, kid. You just gotta walk through it,” Gabriel told him gently. Oscar swayed on his hand as he moved, but Gabriel had steadier hands than any human alive. He knelt smoothly by the door to let the kid step off, never once jostling him on the way.

Oscar stood in front of the huge door while the bartender stood back to his full height and pushed it open with one hand. No one could really tell what was beyond that threshold. It was just outside the Lounge. Nothing more, nothing less.

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.

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.

"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!”