Though it took every ounce of his self-control to do so, Oliver managed to swallow the bubbling hate that nearly drove him to leap vengefully onto the cackling little boy. He took a deep breath and smirked at Justin as the boy stopped laughing and frowned at the strange kid.
"What's so funny?" Justin demanded.
"Oh, nothing," Oliver shrugged. "Just that if anyone here is a baby, it's you."
"Yeah, right." Justin rolled his eyes. "I'm bigger than you an' I got actual clothes on, not just stupid Pokemon undies."
"They're not stupid." Oliver snapped without meaning to, taking another deep breath before continuing. "An' it doesn't matter anyway since I'm ac-shully a grown-up."
Justin snorted and looked at Oliver like he was crazy - but there was something about the boy that gave him pause, some alien confidence in his smirk and posture that he didn't commonly see in his playmates.
"You're just makin' stuff up."
"Fine. If you don't believe me I guess I don't even hafta tell you all about the magic ring that made me little."
Justin's eyes widened, then narrowed.
"There's no such thing as magic," the boy unconvincingly declared.
"Is so. You know Oliver, the man that lives two houses down?" He gestured at himself and smiled. "That's me. I used the ring to make myself little again."
Justin looked the boy over. He'd spent some time over at Oliver's house playing with his nephews and the resemblance was undeniable. Still, his big-boy machismo wasn't about to let him believe in something as silly as magic without a little more questioning.
"Why'd you want to be little?"
"'Cause it's fun," Oliver shrugged. "I was just gonna play with Connor and Jackson for a while but they stole the ring before I could turn back and then they used it to turn themselves into grown-up me. That's why we're here, so we can borrow some clothes so me an' my sister can look for them an' I don't hafta just be in my undies while we're looking."
"Huh." Justin studied Oliver blankly for a few seconds. Then he smiled. "Cool. Wanna play? You can be Iron Man."
Oliver beamed and nodded, hopping over to Justin and plopping on his bottom right beside his new friend. Giddy at being included, he threw himself into the childish pantomime with unabashed glee, shouting and laughing and making ridiculous explosion noises as he and Justin gave life to a grand, ridiculous, wonderful battle.
"A-hem."
Melissa cleared her throat and unceremoniously yanked Oliver out of his fantasy world, unable to keep the smile off her lips as she looked down at the pair of boys lost in play. Oliver blushed and toyed with the action figure in his little hands.
"We were playin' Avengers," he peeped.
"I can see that," Melissa chuckled. She held up the little pile of folded clothes in her hands. "Justin's mom was nice enough to lend you some clothes, so why don't you can't changed so we can get going?"
"'Kay." Though Oliver had no desire to leave his new friend's side, he knew that finding his nephews was super important and that he could always play with Justin later. Melissa laid the clothes on the ground before him and her little brother grinned when he held up the t-shirt on the top of the pile for examination, obviously pleased by the heroic shade of blue and by the image of Finn and Jake gleefully bumping fists over a fallen Ice King.
"That's my favorite," Justin piped up - but when he saw the crestfallen look on Oliver's face, the boy smiled and shrugged. "But you can borrow it for a little while."
"Thanks!" Oliver shot his friend a grateful smile before he quickly donned the shirt, beaming down at himself for a moment before pulling on the little cargo shorts and the littler shocks and the beat-up pair of heel-light sneakers. Melissa, meanwhile, couldn't help but be struck by the way the outfit brought Oliver's facade to a whole new level. Everything from the way his shoes lit up with each step to the unabashedly boyish image on his shirt to the proud smile on his lips - proud, no doubt, of how cool his new clothes were - made Oliver look every bit a seven-year-old boy.
"...we should really get going," Melissa said, shaking her head as she held her hand out for Oliver to take. "Say goodbye to your friend, okay?"
"Bye Justin!" Oliver chirped as he put his hand in Melissa's.
"Bye Oliver!" Justin replied before returning to his Avengers adventure. Oliver skipped at Melissa's side as they headed out the door, seemingly oblivious to the strange look she was giving him.
"He called you Oliver," she finally said.
Oliver looked up at his sister and laughed as he rolled his eyes.
"That's my name, silly."
"Right, but...you were pretending to be Cody, remember?" Melissa gently reminded him. "We might get in trouble if people found out that you had been turned into a little boy."
Oliver frowned and looked away.
"I didn't mean to get us in trouble," he quietly contended before looking back up at his sister with steely eyes. "An I'm not a little boy. I'm seven."
A chill shot up Melissa's spine. She managed a smile as she gave Oliver's hand a squeeze.
"Oliver. You're twenty-three, remember? You're not a boy. You're an adult."
Oliver, puzzled, merely looked at his sister for a moment - before he laughed and playfully swung her arm.
"I knoooow," Oliver grinned up at Melissa as though she was being awfully silly. "I was just pretending. Like you wanted, remember?"
"...right." Melissa let out a little laugh of her own and looked ahead of her. She held Oliver's hand a little tighter. "Just like I wanted."