Memory's Meme Hour

Fluff imagines #3: Birds

(heads-up: This fluff imagine is secretly angsty if you squint. But overall, I think this is a really cute chapter. I absolutely LOVED developing this idea and I hope you enjoy reading it!!)

Every other week, the Galaxy Fam have a get-together by going to a fun event. Everyone in the family gets their turn in choosing where to go. This week, it was Galaxy's turn, and he picked a lively forest to go birdwatching in. Honestly, he only picked this because he wanted answers for his latest deep question: can you feed a bird in the sky?

Galaxy, Time, and Illusion fly in the air and hang out with any birds that aren't afraid to approach them. The birds are pigeons, parrots, and sparrows.

Galaxy brought a sandwich with him to the sky. He grabs some bread from his sandwich, breaks it into bread crumbs, and yeets them into the air. To his disappointment, only a few of the birds catch the breadcrumbs in midair; the rest just wait for the breadcrumbs to fall and eat them off the ground. Galaxy keeps yeeting breadcrumbs to see if any birds will catch them in midair. He keeps trying until he runs out of sandwich. Then he sulks because he used up his entire sandwich to feed the birds.

Time is gliding peacefully around the sky, taking notes and sketching any bird he sees in his notebook. (Fun fact: my design of Time Steve has a bird-like mask. So imagine if his mask accidentally scares a bird and he just laughs before taking off the mask.)

Illusion is just watching and also taking notes of any bird he sees. If he sees a species he hasn't seen before, he yells "GUYS, LOOK!", which ends up scaring the bird he wants to show his family.

Meanwhile, Memory's on the ground, sitting on his haunches. Sometimes, he'll watch the mushrooms, plants, and any birds who are on the ground with him. Sometimes he'll watch his family have fun in the sky, but he doesn't join them.

After getting tired from being in the air, Illusion lands next to Memory. He asks Memory if he's ok, because Memory doesn't seem to be enjoying himself. Memory tells Illusion that he's fine, but he isn't hanging out with the family because he doesn't understand the appeal of flying (as mentioned in Chapter 8 of RRFF).

Illusion offers to birdwatch with Memory on the ground, but Memory declines. When Illusion asks why, Memory admits that he's very...apathetic about animals. He doesn't hate them, but he was raised by Void Steve, who hated everything about life. So Memory had to emotionally distance himself from animals, because he expected all life to be destroyed by Void Steve. Even though he hangs out with his good family now, Memory still can't feel excited about animals after generations of forcing himself not to feel any affection towards them.

Illusion naturally loves learning about brand new worlds, so he can't understand why Memory can't feel excited about animals. But he keeps those thoughts to himself, knowing that Memory's past with Void is a touchy subject. So instead, he spends the rest of the day hanging out with Memory on the ground. They talk about random things they find interesting. Illusion rambles and gushes about all the cool birds he found in the sky. Memory listens with undivided attention, not because he likes birds, but because he likes seeing Illusion passionate and happy about something.

****

Two weeks later, it's Family Get Together again, and it's Illusion's turn to choose what to do. He chooses to go to the aquarium, because he's never been to one before and wants to learn about the amazing aquatic world.

Galaxy takes the family to a brand new, Earth-like dimension that has a super gigantic aquarium full of amazing creatures and things to see. Since this is the first time Illusion's been to the aquarium (keep in mind that he's never seen a lake or an ocean before), he is just mesmerized by everything. Memory, the one who can't feel excited by any of this, enjoys watching Illusion's childlike wonder and makes sure Illusion doesn't wander away from the family.