Oliver just couldn't leave the house like this, clothed or not. Even if he could figure out some way to stop his nephews, the outside world had suddenly become gigantic and intimidating. He felt as though every pair of eyes that might look upon him would know that he was a naughty little boy who had snuck out when he was clearly told not to, that if he were to leave he'd only succeed in getting in even bigger trouble than he was now. He exhaled, breathing finally steadying. Nothing to do but wait until his sister Melissa got here. She was a grown-up - she'd know what to do.
The boy frowned and the tapped the side of his head. An adult, he reminded himself. She's an adult, not a grown-up - just like him.
The question now was what he would do until she arrived. His first thought was to return to the living room to watch some TV, but the open window gave him pause - he couldn't bear the thought of anyone walking by and seeing him in just his underwear. An adult shirt would provide more coverage, but at the same time would serve as a constant reminder of how little he'd become. Best to just stay in his room, he resolved. The issue with that, however, arose mere moments into his wait, as it wasn't long at all before boredom set in. Oliver tried to distract himself by strolling around his room and humming whatever song came to mind (though he quickly shook the Pokemon theme out of his head before he could hum one note), but that only bought him a few minutes before the monotony became too much to bear. Willing himself not to think on what his shrinking attention span signified, he started looking around the room for something to pass the time, rationalizing that he could do with a distraction after such a stressful morning.
Unfortunately, his room proved completely devoid of entertainment. With his phone gone and his laptop in the other room, Oliver had seemingly doomed himself to total boredom until his sister arrived. The boy sighed and flopped dramatically onto his bed, staring at the ceiling and forcing out all thoughts of the one place in his room that he hadn't looked. Shut up, he told himself. That's kid's stuff. I'm not going to play with them. Seconds passed, then minutes. Oliver fidgeted and drummed his fingers against the bedspread. I mean, it's not just for kids. I don't feel embarrassed playing with them when Connor and Jackson are over.
He bit his lip. His eyes drifted towards the bottom drawer. ...just for a little bit. Just until Melissa gets here.
Oliver hopped off of the bed with a sudden burst of energy, kneeling before the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulling it open to reveal a veritable treasure trove of toys. Scuffed little cars, beat-up action figures, well-loved stuffed animals and well-worn crayons. Over the years Oliver had learned to keep a variety of playthings around for when Connor and Jackson visited, since their attention span was shorter than even his was now. For a moment he just stared down at the bounty, snapping out of his boyish awe when he realized that a giddy little smile had crept across his lips. This isn't for fun, he reminded himself, setting his jaw. This is just a distraction. That's all.
It was with that thought in mind that Oliver searched through the toys for the least childish thing he could find, settling finally on a bucket of LEGOs and a studded plastic pad on which to build. This would be fine - nothing inherently childish about building and designing stuff, after all. Maybe he could build the places he thought Connor and Jackson had gone to keep them fresh in his mind. That's perfect! He grinned as he dumped the tub onto the carpet, a waterfall of colorful plastic splashing and rattling across the floor. He'd build each of the places down to the most perfect detail so he could figure out the best way to sneak into them and catch Connor and Jackson by surprise. His grin widened as he got to work and pictured what the looks on his nephews' faces would be when they realized that their little uncle had outsmarted them. Just a kid, huh? I'll show you what a kid can do.
Time passed but Oliver wasn't the least bit aware of it. Having constructed three square little buildings (their multi-color facades, among other details, calling into question whether they were actually accurate representations), the boy had moved onto filling out the scene on the street that separated them. He laid on his tummy and kicked his feet absently in the air above him, humming the Pokemon theme as he built a police car on the road and stationed a little smiling policeman at the corner. The cops were definitely going to be there when he showed up, he reasoned, 'cause they knew that Connor and Jackson had been bad. They were gonna help Oliver catch his nephews and then they'd make him big again and Connor and Jackson little and then they might even have to go to jail. Not grown-up jail 'cause they weren't really grown-ups but still somewhere really really bad so they'd learn how naughty they'd been.
Lost in his childish reverie, Oliver didn't realize he had company until he heard a sound at his door. He looked up and saw an adult staring down at him - a little boy wearing nothing but a pair of tiny cartoon undies for the show whose theme he absently hummed while happily playing with his LEGOs.