"First things first, if you two are going to stay here, I need to know who I'm dealing with. Give me names--just first names for right now so I know what to call you two pipsqueaks."
Both Jack and Ethan shared a look before Jack spoke up to say, "Call me Jason."
"E--" started Ethan before he caught himself and said "Eli."
"All right, Jason and Eli, while it is a school night--"
"Wait a minute, what about you?" asked Ethan.
"Me?" asked Ken.
"Yeah, what do we call you?" asked Jack
"You got our names, it's only fair we get yours," said Ethan.
"Boys, you can't expect a vigilante crime fighter to disclose his actual name."
"Are you a real vigilante though?" asked Ethan.
"Yeah, aren't you more of a sidekick?" asked Jack.
"A teenage sidekick," said Ethan.
"Now see here, boys," started Ken.
"Maybe we should guess his name if he's too chicken to say it?" suggested Jack before flapping his arms and bucking like a chicken would.
"Judging from his whole Karate thing, maybe his name is Kenji?" said Ethan.
"Or Kentaro," answered Jack.
"Or maybe Kenzo?"
"How about Kenta?"
All right this was getting out of hand, and Ken wasn't about to be shown up by two little boys, even if they were really the Blue Boxer and Lumberjack under a magic spell. His pride and dignity weren't going to stand being walked over by a pair of puny prepubescent preteens.
"You can call me Kevin. That's not my actual name, but you can call me Kevin, all right? Fair?"
"Fair," answered Jack, to which Ethan made a big deal of nodding his approval as well before munching on yet another goldfish cracker.
Oh were these two asking for it, and he knew just how to even the playing field out. "Well, we have a little bit of time before bedtime."
"Bedtime?" asked Jack.
"I don't know what the orphanage had you two at, but ten o'clock--"
"A ten o'clock bedtime, you can't be serious?!" exclaimed Ethan, his fists causing the goldfish crackers to fall over and spill on the table.
"Well, growing up around this place it was bedtime for me when I was about your ages--or aren't you two willing to follow the rules of the house of the Blue Boxer? You did say you wanted to be 'taken under his wing just like I was' didn't you?" asked Ken with a shit-eating grin, loving every second of it.
Ethan thought back to the early argumentative rage-filled days of Ken's early adoption, about when Ken was 12 or so, and he in fact had insisted on a ten o'clock bedtime--not that Ken had respected it then very much. But still he had put his foot down and eventually got his way... but only after the goons who killed Ken's parents were off the streets.
"And how often did you keep to it?" asked Ethan.
"I'm sorry, did you just tell me to get CPS on the phone?" asked Ken in response, whipping out his cell phone.
Ethan shut his mouth and went back to sucking angrily on his juice box straw.
Ken smiled, knowing he had re-established the stick he needed for the next part. "In the meantime, there are some chores you two could do."
Both Jack and Ethan groaned.
"It will make a good impression on the Boxer and Jack... and make them more likely to keep you around," proffered Ken.
"Fine," admitted Jack.
"What chores?" asked Ethan as his own mind tried to think back to what exactly he had had Ken doing in those early days besides cleaning his room.
"Well, since you two already know about The Gym, you can clean up the mess you two left it in after you broke in. Let's borrow something from the Boy Scouts and say you two will leave it better than you found it. So go through and wash all of the costumes you messed up, wipe down all the punching bags and mats you threw all over down there, and give the floor a good sweep and a mopping, and about that time Amelie should have beds, toiletries, and night clothes ready for you."
"Amelie?" feigned Ethan, though he recognized his French Housekeeper's name instantly. He hoped he had hid that reaction well enough from Ken. She was a gray-haired Frenchwoman from Normandy. Sweet but strict and with an eye for detail that helped keep Ethan on task when he was struggling with a case. She had been the only staff to stick around when his father had gotten himself killed avenging his mother's death when she'd taken the wrong step into the wrong alleyway at the exact wrong time.
"Haven't you met Amelie yet, Eli? I had thought she might have been duped by the pair of you in order to break into The Gym. Think of her as your kindly grandma who knows how to fence and keep house, like any self-respecting French Housekeeper."
Ethan figured remaining quiet would likely be best in this situation.
"She sounds awesome," blurted out Jack, acting like the little boy he looked like.
"She is. Anyway, let's get you boys some cleaning supplies from the closet."
To Ken's credit, he didn't just dump them in The Gym and not watch them clean. Nor did he just tell them to go at it without any instruction either. He showed them how to rub down a mat and punching bag first, like Ethan had taught him years ago. He did step back and let them do the job, as best they could with their diminished stature and size, Ethan having to climb up onto Jack's shoulders a few times to put the mats that Jubbar had disturbed away. When they were done with the mats and punching bags, laundry baskets were waiting for them to pick up the remnants of their adult crime fighting costumes to put into the wash, as well as collect some of the dirty laundry from previous nights' missions. Ken then explained how to use the washing machine and dryer, and the importance of separating lights from darks, and so forth. And once they had the first load of costumes in to be washed, including a few of Ken's, Ethan had noticed, Ken had two push brooms, and two mops and wheeled buckets ready for them to use. And like with the other tasks, Ken took the time to thoroughly explain the task and what he wanted done in a complete and succinct way that brought some unexpected but well earned pride to Ethan's heart. True, he didn't like being ordered around like a pipsqueak little boy, but Ken was showing such care and concern that they did things correctly, and showing them how to like a... a father or an older brother might. And really as they finished sweeping and mopping, that's the general vibe Ethan felt was settling in--that Ken was treating Eli and Jason like the annoying but endearing little brothers he'd never had, and loving every minute of it. God, this act was gonna be hard to drop.
Ken called up to Amelie from The Gym's surveillance station, watching as "Eli" and "Jason" continued to clean the floors.
"Oui, Monsieur Ken?" called the sweet voiced Amelie from across the two-way video screen.
"Ethan and Jack have gotten themselves turned into little boys by the looks of a rogue Djinn who used to inhabit this magic lamp," said Ken, holding up the lamp he'd swiped off the table while the boys were distracted with the laundry.
"Mon Dieu! Are they all right?" asked Amelie.
"Perfectly fine. Their egos and pride might've been taken down a peg or two--but nothing life threatening. For some reason, Ethan wants to pretend that he and Jack are two pipsqueak fanboys who managed to break into the great Blue Boxer's gym looking to get adopted. So, I have them doing some chores to clean up the mess that Djinn left when he transformed them. They don't know I know the truth--nor will he know that I'm telling you the truth, and as long as Ethan continues to play that game, we're going to let him do it."
"Je te comprends. But don't you think this little charade you two are playing has... oh what is it you Americans say... ah yes, gone on long enough already?"
"Hey, I'm just following the Blue Boxer's lead, just like he trained me to all those years ago."
"Les petits garçons et leurs jeux d'enfants. One of these days, you'll get one of you two hurt from these little games you play."
"C'mon, you know you're gonna have as much fun with this as I am."
"Comment oses-tu dire des choses aussi vilaines! You naughty boy!"
"Anyway, I told them that you could prepare up a bedroom, toiletries, and some pajamas for them to use for tonight, and I promise to tell them the truth tomorrow."
"Let me see your hands as you swear that," said Amelie, and Ken obliged.
"All right, I'll have a double room whipped up in a few minutes."
Ken nodded his head and the video screen went blank. He then leaned back and watched as "Eli" and "Jason" finished up the floor cleaning.
It was just then the crime siren went off in the control room. Someone was causing mayhem down by the Grit City docks.