Wilbur let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair at the kitchen table. Before him lay three now completed worksheets from school. Two of them he was fairly certain were mostly correct, but the third he was sure was the opposite. If he had to hazard a guess, maybe three answers were right.

Wilbur hated math.

Just as he was about to mentally tangent his hate for all things numbers Wil's attention was grabbed by a frustrated huff to his left. Glancing towards it he was met with Techno's pinched face staring down at his own paper.

It was a basic worksheet that Wilbur remembered having to do when he was younger. Techno had, despite being small for his age, been able to start preschool on time with the other kids his age. He had anxious at first, but quickly had been lost to the world of learning. Wilbur recalled the first few days as Techno had actually babbled on and on about learning his letters and numbers.

Looking at his little brother now though Wil could only see the growing distress on his face as he started the paper down as if it had insulted him.

"What's up, Tech?" Wil asked as he leaned forwards again, "Is it all moving about the page again?"

Techno frowned but shook his head at the question. It was a bit of an issue on occasion when Techno was trying to do his worksheets that, as he described it, the words 'didn't stay still'. Wilbur didn't know what that meant, but their father had assured him that it wasn't uncommon. They had come to the habit of reading the page with Techno slowly to help him out and it seemed to work well enough. Not always, but, it was a start.

"I don't know what to do." Techno huffed out, flopping against the beck of the chair in his annoyance.

"What do you mean? Let me see." Wilbur directed as he scooted his chair closer.

Without hesitation Techno unceremoniously shoved the paper towards his brother, kicking his feet under his chair enough that they banged against the legs of it audibly. The paper was mostly empty, of course, as most worksheets were. But it had lines in one column and then empty closed boxes on the other. The title at the top read 'Alphabet Artist' with the directions listed under it. They read 'fill in the Alphabet and then draw a picture that starts with that letter'.

Wilbur stared at the paper and then looked to his brother, brow raised.

"Tech, you've done harder then this before." He stated, not understanding his brother's issue.

"But, there are a lot of letters." Techno complained as he leaned forwards again, grabbing his paper back, "How am I supposed to draw for all of them? It's front and back of the sheet!"

Wilbur looked at his brother for a long moment before speaking again.

"You only have to do part of the alphabet. Look, at the top. It says 'part one'." Wilbur pointed out just under the title and before the instructions, "There isn't enough room for the whole alphabet here."

Techno only huffed again and looked at his brother flatly that said all too clearly that Wil's current input was hardly helpful to him.

"Ok, ok. Look, I'll help you come up with ideas. But you have to draw them." Wil placated as he crossed his arms as if to be stern.

Techno thought for a moment on this before nodding his head.

"You also have to write in the letters yourself." Wil added as he moved to stand up, "I'll be right back while you do that."

Techno opened his mouth as if to protest before snapping it closed again as Wilbur walked towards the doorway leading out of the kitchen. His brother was gone before Techno even bothered looking back down as his awaiting worksheet.

He knew his alphabet, he did. He could…he could easily do this before Wil got back. He looked over the empty lines on the one side and fidgeted in his seat. Glancing towards the door briefly Techno reached for his pencil and placed it lightly at the first line.

A

Second line

B

And then C on the third.

Techno tilted his head at the forth line. It was…a letter. A letter he knew. Of course he knew it. He knew his alphabet. He did. It just…sometimes sounded like another letter too.

Biting his lip Techno started to draw a straight line before he paused. Staring at the line he furrowed his brow at the lone line that now sat there.

He hummed to himself for a second the tune of the 'Alphabet Song' he and his classmates had been learning since starting Preschool.

He drew a curved big belly off the line with confidence before looking down proudly at his paper. Wiggling in place he continued to hum, restarting the tune over and over until, front and back, the lines on the paper were filled in.

Looking up from his work Techno's brow furrowed again as he realized Wilbur hadn't come back yet. Had he finished his paper that quickly, or…was Wilbur just being slow?

Techno looked down at his sheet, stared at the empty boxes that demanded to be filled in. It…it wasn't like he didn't know things that started with the letters, it was just…he knew a lot of things that started with those letters.

Techno looked towards the doorway once more and waited, listening for sounds of footsteps. He fidgeted in his chair as he looked towards the clock. He recognized the numbers but…he still couldn't really make sense of it. Not like his parents could. Though, he was still certain that Wilbur only pretended to understand it.

"Wiiiiiiil!" Techno called as he looked back to the doorway impatiently, "I'm all done with the letters!"

There was a momentary continuation of silence before a rush of thundering footfalls could be heard from down the hall. In a moment Wilbur came sliding into view, slipping as he tried to coast to a stop in his socks.

"Okay, I'm here." Wil confirmed as he shuffled back to the table just slightly out of breath.

Techno debated asking what he was doing, but decided he didn't really care. Wil was just being Wil and if it was something fun he'd tell Techno about it after their homework was done.

"So, what do I draw here?" Techno asked as he pointed to the first box next to the letter 'A'.

"Dunno." Wilbur replied in a deadpan as he looked at Techno.

The smaller boy frowned and huffed, crossing his arms for good measure like their mother did when Wilbur was being 'difficult.' Wilbur, for his part, put his hands up with a smile on his face.

"No, no I mean it. I was rubbish at this one. I just sort of, cheated by redrawing from my other worksheets. Like, 'A for apple' and all that." He explained, "I was going bring out the letter book from when we were younger to copy off that, but Tommy is currently drooling on it."

Techno thought on this a moment. He did have a lot of worksheets from school that had pictures on them. He…he could use those. But-

"I don't want to draw an apple. Apples are boring." Techno replied bluntly, staring at Wil for his next idea.

Wilbur frowned at this. He thought he'd had this in the bag and that homework time would be done with. They both need to be done before snacks and t.v. time. But, if Techno was going to be difficult and choose not to draw things then-

"Alligator." Wilbur blurted out without thinking.

Techno looked at him as if he'd just spoken a different language.

"What's that?"

"Its…well, its like a lizard, but for water. Big nose and sharp teeth." Wilbur explained as best he could, "I think they might be green as well."

"Do they do the flippy tongue thing?" Techno asked with interest and Wilbur tilted his head in thought.

"I…I think so? I mean, its a lizard innit?"

Techno scrunched his nose at Wilbur now.

"You're doing it again." He stated bluntly.

"Doing what?" Wil asked, broken out of his thought on the 'water lizard' and its potential flipping of the tongue.

"The thing. Talking like dad." Techno replied, "The funny words."

"Alligator isn't a funny word….I mean it is, but its a name of an animal-"

Techno huffed shook his head. Wilbur was doing it on purpose, Techno was sure of it.

"How do I draw an Allgaitur?" He asked, stopping Wilbur and whatever he was saying.

"Dunno. Just, draw a green lizard with big teeth?" Wil suggested as he leaned on the table.

Techno considered this before he shuffled out of his seat and darted down the hall to their bedroom. He needed his crayons for this after all.

xx-xx

All in all the green squiggle of a lizard with an open mouth and sharp teeth fit oddly well in the formerly empty box. It was like it was meant to be there Techno decided.

"What about 'B'-"

"Bat." Wilbur stated before Techno even finished speaking, "Fuzzy black ball with wings."

"...Ok." Techno nodded as he picked up the black crayon next.

It was a quick drawing of course. A circle with protrusions for wings. Still, it made Techno smile a bit.

"C?"

"Chameleon" Wilbur supplied, a smile on his face as he waited.

Techno looked at his brother once more, brow knit together.

"What's that? It doesn't even start with 'C'." Techno puffed out, crossing his arms again.

"Yes it does. Its a lizard that can change colors." Wilbur explained, waving his hands a bit as if to show of imaginary colors before himself.

"No it can't, and, and no it doesn't. It's the wrong sound for 'C'." Techno insisted.

"Its still a 'C', its just hugging an 'H'." Wil explained, knowing he'd need to convince Techno of that much before moving on, "And its real. Its a small thing with a curly tail. I've seen pictures. It can turn all sorts of colors."

"I don't believe you." Techno stated firmly as his pout got bigger.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Wil asked with a raised brow of his own now.

"Yes." Techno replied without hesitation.

Wilbur paused for a moment before standing up as tall as he could and puffing out his chest.

"I'll prove it to you." He stated plainly before turning on his heel.

"B- W-wait, Wil! What about my drawing!" Techno called after him, now panicked at losing his help.

"Come on. I'll help you after this. Chameleons are real and you need to know it." Wilbur insisted as he walked into the living room.

Techno hesitated as he looked back at his paper. It was only part done and he didn't know how long Wilbur would be in 'proving' anything. But…if there was a lizard that could change colors then he'd want to see it. Surely mom and dad would understand.

By the time Techno walked out the kitchen doorway and into the living room area Wilbur was already in front of the computer that was stationed at the leftmost corner of the room. It was where their dad worked most of the time, and sometimes their mother too. But right now it was taken up by Wilbur who was opening up a video sight and typing something in.

"Come here Tech, you need to see this. Its, kind of horrible." Wilbur stated, smile wide as he ushered his brother over.

Techno furrowed brow once more at the term 'horrible' but approached all the same. On the screen was a…well, it was a lizard for sure. However, Techno couldn't get over the long stretchy looking but…scrunched squat eyes. As if someone had been going to make them long and decided against it at the last second, pushing them back down without success. They stuck out weirdly on the lizards head, which as far as Techno could tell was just like a dinosaurs. Its eyes traveled around rapidly, rotating in a way that made Techno both shiver and lean closer with interest. Techno had never seen anything like it before and it was…Fascinating, It hadn't even changed color yet!

"Look! Look, look, look!" Wilbur excitedly pointed at the screen as if Techno could look anywhere else right now, "Look at its feet!"

With that directive Techno stared at the three chubby looking toes partially raised in the air. The creature had barely seemed to take hold of the pair of sunglasses set before it when the feet shifted from a vibrant green to a matching bright orange.

Techno's mouth dropped open.

"Watch! Keep watching, it gets cooler!" Wilbur insisted, once more without needing to.

Wil kept jabbing his finger at the screen and was now jabbering excitedly to Techno about the creature. Techno, though, was far to absorbed with watching the scaly beast swap from orange to yellow, to a deep blue and then red. Each time it stepped on a new pair of glasses it was swift to change to match. Even to the point of being multiple colors at once as it walked over them set side by side. He could sit there all night and watch this.

"Boys? What are you doing?"

Techno jumped at the sound of their father's voice behind them. Wilbur had too, moving to stand in front of the screen to hide the still running video. Their father, with Tommy being bounced in his arms, walked closer to investigate before either boy could begin to answer him.

"I-its nothing Dad. We were, we were just…study…ing?" Wilbur trailed off as their father peeked around him at the video.

"Chameleons? What are-" He started to asked before his eyes widened with mild surprise at seeing it change color as well, "Oh. Oh, wow, that's quick innit?"

Wilbur spun around, grin back on his face.

"It does so many colors!" Techno pipped up and now pointing at the screen, though by now the video had ended.

"I'm sure. Its what they for camouflage." Phil nodded as his expression shifted from interest to a slightly more stern look, "Did you finish your homework yet?"

Techno's smile faltered as he glanced back to the kitchen, the table with his worksheet on it just within his sight.

"We were working on it." Wilbur started to explain, "But, he didn't believe me about the Chameleon."

"Okay, but you know homework come before computer time." Phil replied as he shifted Tommy onto his other hip.

Little Tommy was wiggling and puffing up with a fresh fuss as he whined into his pacifier. He was looking between his siblings without much interest as Phil started to motion the two older boys back to the kitchen.

"I know, but-"

"No 'but's about it mate. We don't want it forgotten until bedtime again." Phil cut Wilbur off with a short ruffle of his hand through the eight year old's hair.

"It was Techno's worksheet!" Wilbur insisted with a pout as he looked up at his father.

Phil tilted his head at this before he looked down at Techno, who had crawled back up into his seat by now.

"What worksheet needs chameleons?" He asked moving over to peek at the paper himself.

"All of them." Techno stated with confidence, still thrilled with the newly discovered creature.

"Okay, but why here?" Phil specified with a chuckle as he skimmed the paper, "So, animal alphabet then?"

"Techno didn't want to draw an apple." Wilbur supplied as the only explanation.

"...Why is there a fanged snake for 'A'?" Phil questioned with amused bafflement.

"Its an alugatur." Techno tried to answer, stumbling over the sounds as he looked at his paper.

"Alligator." Wilbur corrected as he flopped down into his own seat.

"I see." Phil nodded, turning his head a bit more at the next image as well, "So…uh"

"Bat." Wilbur supplied as he looked over Techno's paper from his brother's other side.

"An then 'Chameleon'?" Phil continued, now looking at the waiting empty box.

"I can use all the colors and still be right." Techno stated, picking up a blue crayon with giddiness.

"Well, you're not wrong." Phil nodded before leaning away from the table to adjust Tommy again, "Okay, okay, mate. Hold on. Goodness you're impatient today."

"Its 'cus mum isn't here." Wilbur stated as he started to kick his feet.

"Probably." Phil nodded, "But, most likely he's just hungry. Just woke up from his nap after all."

Wilbur looked at the counter where Tommy's bottle sat cooling nearby, placed there just earlier in preparation. He was about to get up to grab it but Phil was already moving for it.

"Once I get your brother sorted I'll get your snacks set up." Phil assured the boys, though neither were worried.

They knew Tommy had to eat first when only one parent was home to look after the three of them. Tommy was, after all, a baby. Wilbur and Techno were big kids. Big kids could be patient. Plus they both knew Phil would give them extra for waiting without a fuss.

Phil paced the kitchen with Tommy as he ate and Techno went back to his worksheet. Wilbur, though, had nothing to do now as his own work was finished. He stared at the papers, glaring a bit at the math one he tucked to the bottom with distaste.

"D" Techno stated bluntly to the air, a hand reaching for a crayon.

Wilbur grinned.

"Dingo"

"...What's a-"

"Wil"