Eric tucked the jacket under one arm and stood up, Hank just a few seconds behind him and WOW was it weird to see his kid brother at chin height when he positively LOOMED over the kid yesterday. Already curious, Eric grabbed the small toolbox out of the laundry room and carried it with him to his bedroom. Hank trailed behind, clearly confused but wanting to follow, until he hovered uncertainly outside Eric's bedroom door.
"Come on in," Eric rolled his eyes. "You already snuck in to steal some clothes earlier. How'd you think I caught you? I heard you fumble the door when you left."
"The doorknob's not in the same place." Hank muttered as he wandered in.
"Doorknob didn't move. You did." Eric argued back, and gently shoved his brother back against the doorframe. Hank resisted a bit at first, and Eric could tell his brother had gotten a good deal stronger. It was actually pretty hard to move him at all.
"Stand up straight," Eric ordered, fishing a pencil out of his backpack.
Hank's eyes lit with understanding, and he quickly backed against the wall with an excited smile. Eric snorted and pushed down on the top of his brother's head as he caught the brat lifting his heels. One pencil swipe, another few moments to fish out the tape measure, and...
"Four feet eleven inches." Eric grinned. "What, couldn't make it to five? Should have tried harder."
Hank looked briefly offended, before he giggled and stuck his tongue out. Snagging the tape measure, he bent down and drew it along his foot.
"Ten and a HALF inches." Hank smirked up at his older brother as he let the tape click shut. "How's that, teenie-toes?"
Eric just rolled his eyes as he unlocked his computer and opened a web browser.
"According to Google, that's a size nine and a half. So go steal dad's shoes; I think he wears a ten so that should work for today. Sasquatch."
"Pbbt." Hank offered as he ducked out of the room to find some footwear.
Eric didn't bother to reply to that mature response. Instead, he tried searching for things like 'magic jacket', 'jacket grow', and 'jacket taller'. After scrolling through some clothing ads and some articles about gardening, eventually he found a link to some weird conspiracy forum.
"Hmm... 'The Jock Jacket'..." Eric muttered. "Nameless letter jacket, makes the wearer into a jock, adults don't notice, sometimes kids don't either, or they don't completely notice..."
"Hey!" Hank called - loudly - in his ear.
"Gah!" Eric stifled a cry, heart pounding. He must have been really focused, since Hank was looking too excited to have been quiet coming back.
"Dad's shoes fit pretty good!" Hank beamed, rocking back and forth in a pair of their dad's walking shoes. They looked like they might be a little too big, but not enough to be a problem. "And I stopped at the bathroom on the way back and guess what? I weigh a HUNDRED pounds, Eric!"
Hank seemed really impressed that so much Hank could exist. Eric couldn't blame him; Eric was skinny for his height and probably only had about five, maybe ten pounds tops on him. No wonder it was so hard to push him around now.
"Ooh, watcha find?"
And now Hank was putting that extra body length to use, craning around Eric to peer at his computer screen.
"Is it about the jacket?" Hank whispered the question.
"I think so," Eric replied, turning back to the screen. "It says there's a freaky magic jacket that can turn people into pro athletes. Younger kids get turned into school jocks, basically. It also says that adults don't notice, and kids mostly don't either. That seems right, since mom and dad saw you last night and didn't say anything."
"But you noticed," Hank pointed out.
Eric shrugged. "Maybe because I've messed with the jacket a bit, or had someone who wore it tell me about it."
"Who?" Hank asked shrewdly.
"Never mind." Eric muttered. When Hank kept looking at him expectantly, Eric just rolled his eyes and powered down the computer.
"We can talk about it more later. For now, let's get going or we'll be late for school."