Folk Tales |Big City Greens One-Shots|

Late Night Talks

So like what if when Cricket and Tilly can't sleep they just have some random conversations for hours

General P.O.V

Cricket tossed and turned, shifting positions in his hammock every few seconds. It was a little after midnight, and for the life of him, he could not lay comfortably. Or at least, he'd convinced himself that the positions were the issue.

Or maybe it was the total silence of the bedroom. Cricket didn't need loud noises to fall asleep, but there was one thing he did, and that was his big sister's snore. But for some reason, she was completely quiet on her side of the room.

Cricket looked up over at his sister's bed, seeing she was laying faced away from him. "Psst, Tilly." He spoke softly, but loud enough for her to hear. Granted, they wouldn't have to whisper, even if their dad and grandma weren't far from their room. The two adults were heavy sleepers, anyway. Well, at least their grandmother was.

Tilly shifted slightly, but didn't respond. Cricket sighed and spoke again, "Tilly, you awake?"

"Who's to say?" The older Green said at a decent volume.

Cricket sighed, "I can't sleep. I know it's dumb, but I need your snore to fall asleep.."

Tilly stretched her legs and sat up in her bed, turning over to look down at her brother. "Honestly, I..can't sleep either." She admitted, rubbing her eyes.

That was odd of her to say. Cricket couldn't remember a time when she had trouble sleeping. Usually within seconds of closing her eyes, she was out like a light and would get a full eight hours of rest.

"Why not?" He asked, tilting his head.

"I don't know," She shrugged, "I mean, I'm tired but I just can't seem to get any shut-eye."

"Well, if you can't sleep, I certainly can't either." The younger boy said, slightly defeated. "Well, what should we do in the meantime?"

Tilly shrugged, scooting over to dangle her legs off the edge of her bed. "Well, there's not much we can do. We can't wake up Papa and Gramma so anythin' we would do would have to be quiet."

Cricket groaned, "Ugh, but I hate bein' quiet!"

"Why not say that a little louder?" Tilly asked sarcastically, "I don't think anyone downtown heard you."

"Yeah, yeah." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. He sat up a bit, holding his knees to his chest. "I'm just a little cranky. It was a long day at the café today.."

Tilly rested her chin on her hand, "Do tell."

"Ugh, sometimes the customers can be so rude!" The boy ranted, "They're so picky about how hot or cold or room temperature their drinks are. And then they purposefully drop their cups so they can get it for free! The nerve of some people.."

"Sounds tough." Tilly said, "Why're you even still workin' there? Whatever happened to your chance at gettin' out of your debt?"

Cricket sighed and chuckled with embarrassment, scratching the back of his head. "Eh..Gloria and I had a lot of fun tryin' to get those beans..and I guess we realized we worked really well together. So we sorta kinda screwed things up in the café on purpose so I'd get in another debt. But this one's gonna take a lot longer to pay off..."

"That's odd. I thought you and Gloria couldn't stand bein' co-workers." Tilly said. "But I am happy you two worked out your differences."

"Mostly," He said, "We still disagree on things every now and then."

"Well, that's normal." His sister said, "You and I don't always get along. Doesn't mean we don't care about each other."

Cricket looked over at her, a small smile appearing on his face. "Yeah, you got a point.."

Tilly began to play with the fabric on the hem of her nightgown, lightly shrugging her shoulders. "So, how are things with Remy?"

"Same as they've always been." He shrugged as well, "Haven't seen him in almost a week, though. Eh, I'll invite him over tomorrow. Or..more like today." He said, glancing over when he said it was half-passed midnight. "What about you and Andromeda?"

"Haven't seen much of her, either." Tilly said, "But you know how she is, can't be in one place for too long. I'll see her again whenever."

"Crazy to think we were ever worried about not makin' any friends in the city, huh?" He asked with a small chuckle, earning a nod from the older one. They'd never admit it to anyone else, but before they moved, they were terrified that no one would ever want to hang out with country kids like them. But now, they had a good friend group, and were beginning to become familiar with how to get around.

But there was still that lingering thought.

Cricket stayed silent for a moment, and was a little unsettled by the fact that Tilly did the same. She wasn't even looking at him when he glanced over at her. Something was clearly bothering her just as much as it was bothering him.

"Tilly..." He spoke, staring down at his feet, "Do you..think we belong here?"

Tilly raised her head, "What do you mean?"

"Do you think we belong in Big City?" He asked hesitantly.

Tilly stared at him, unsure on how to answer. She wanted to tell him that they did, they were residents just like everyone else in the city. But socially, they were the odd ones out. They didn't look or act like anyone else. And normally, they would've thought that was a good thing. But everywhere they went, there was always something, or someone, reminding them how different they were. Too different to be known as city people.

"Uh, well..does it really matter if we do?" She said finally.

"I mean, we're gonna be livin' here for a while. It's just hard not to care when there's so many people gettin' onto us for being from somewhere different, you know?" He said.

Tilly frowned solemnly at her brother. "Yeah, I know.." She said. "But..think about Remy. He's not like everyone else in Big City, but he belongs here, doesn't he?"

Cricket sighed, "Yeah, I guess so."

She bowed her head, knowing that that probably didn't help him or make him feel better. Remy was definitely not like other kids in the city—he was rich, sheltered, and kinda nerdy. But it was different, he was raised in the city, and no one ever called him out for being a little different.

Maybe Cricket was right. Maybe they were too different to ever be considered city people.

But then, Tilly smiled, speaking up, "But hey, who says we have to be like everyone else? We're always ourselves, and we've made lots of friends, so we must be doin' somethin' right."

Cricket looked over at his sister, realizing she had a point. If they weren't from the country, if they were anybody else, they wouldn't know the people they knew today. And they loved their friends dearly. And vise versa.

"I suppose you're right," He said, his frown fading. "Thanks, Tilly."

"You're welcome." She nodded, relieved to see him happy again.

"You know, I kinda enjoy these little talks we have." He admitted, "We don't have 'em that often.."

"Probably because we're usually able to sleep." She said with a small giggle.

Cricket scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, you're right again.."