usnavi: creating an exact replica of the entire barrio made of sand

vanessa: begging usnavi to come in the water with her, then getting frustrated and leaving him to his sand barrio

sonny: seeing how far he can go in the ocean, then getting freaked out and swimming back toward the shore

pete: laughing at sonny, and trying to surf on his boogie board

nina: throwing wet sand at benny’s back

benny: splashing nina and laughing at her wet sand pellets

carla: looking for seashells and sand dollars

daniela: helping her, reluctantly, after realizing carla wasn’t going to leave her seashells

kevin: serving sandwiches to everyone for lunch

abuela claudia: reading underneath her umbrella

camilla: chilling and tanning in the sun

yesss the boysss :D

drabble prompts here - any musical! :)

“What do you want to do first?” Johan asked excitedly, dragging his boyfriend by the hand. 

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Usnavi shrugged with a smile.

Johan shot him a withering look. “Navi, this is your first time at Disneyland. You call the shots.”

Usnavi rolled his eyes and looked around. “Fine, uh... how about the Mark Twain Riverboat?”

Johan made a face. “Ugh what are you, ninety?”

Usnavi rolled his eyes again. “You’re seriously like a man-child. You decide where we go, then.”

“Let’s go to the haunted mansion,” Johan grinned. Reluctantly, Usnavi followed along. They cut to the front of the line with the passes Dre had procured for them and went inside. 

Just walking through the house to the ride, Usnavi began to regret agreeing to this ride. He was not the bravest when it came to scares. He held tight to Johan’s hand.

Once they were on the ride, Usnavi sat tensely, keeping his eyes wide open as if that would ward off the fake ghosts. He managed to keep it together until the last moments of the ride when a particularly scary ghoul showed itself rather suddenly. Usnavi let out a shrill scream, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth, his entire face going red. Utterly embarrassed, he buried his face in Johan’s shoulder (which was shaking with uncontained mirth).

Once they emerged from the mansion, Usnavi remained in sulking silence, his face still burning red. 

“So...” Johan said, biting his lip to stop himself from laughing. “I’m a man-child?”

“Shut up,” Usnavi grumbled abashedly. 

“C’mere,” Johan laughed, pulling Usnavi into a hug and kissing his temple. Usnavi hid his face again, growing even redder. Johan laughed softly. “Wanna go on the Mark Twain ride?”

Usnavi sat on his couch fiddling with the ring box, the couch creaking every once in awhile when he would shift. Johan rather liked the couch, even though his sister chewed him out for allowing Jack and Junior to sit on it even though the sag in the middle was nearly brushing the ground. Benny joked often that he was going to cut the legs off, and finish the job. Usnavi pulled out his phone and tried to call Johan. “Hey it's Johan. I can't-”

Usnavi looked at the clock and saw that it was a little past 2 in the morning. He had a knot form in his stomach as he recalled Dre and Rainbow words.

“He can't commit, he's lazy, entitled, and a mooch.”

“Dre! My brother, as Dre so rudely put it, likes to be constantly on the move, he struggles with commitment but does love you and I see that he is trying to do his best, and he does love you.”

Usnavi checked his phone seeing there was still the apology text from him. Usnavi tossed his legs on the couch as he reached around for Johan’s cardigan that he left lying on the back of the couch for a cover when the apartment got too cold. Usnavi pulled Johan’s cardigan over smelling the mixture of coconut and cinnamon. In the back of his mind Usnavi knew Johan wouldn’t up and leave for fear of the Benny reproductions, but in the forefront of his mind he couldn’t get over the fact he and Johan had a fight, Johan wanted Usnavi to come with him to California, and Usnavi didn’t want to go because two weeks was a long time for the bodega to be closed, and for the barrio to be left to fend by itself. Usnavi checked his phone again only seeing the text Johan sent as an apology.

‘When you’re right, you’re right. I shouldn’t have kept pressing you to go to Cali. While I’m gone look into getting Benny some help for his Milky Way addiction. He and Dre could bond over that. Anyway, I’m going to go out. Shop, check out a few bars. I’ll see you when I get home.'

“Where are you? He wouldn’t just up and leave without everything?” Usnavi thought as he drifted off to sleep,”Maybe his phone died and time got away from him.”

Usnavi jolted awake confused then relaxed realising he was woken up by his phone ringing happily, he answered the phone without checking the caller ID,”Hello?”

Rainbow’s voice came through, slightly frantic,”Usnavi? Thank God. Is Johan with you?”

Usnavi shook his head,”He hasn’t contacted you?” Rainbow’s voice was nervous,”Not since earlier, he said the two of you got into a fight so he was going to go out for a bit then, make up to you. I’ve tried calling him but I’m only getting voice mail.”

Usnavi tapped the ring box in his pocket,”Well, you said he wandered off a lot when he was younger, right? He probably just forgot to charge his phone.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right. Will you call me when he comes back?” “Of course, Rainbow. I’ll talk to you later.” Usnavi said hearing the call ending beep. He slid his phone back into his pocket and began to make a cup of coffee. When he heard a knock on the door, he walked very calmly and didn’t nearly run into the end table as he calmly opened the door seeing a petite police officer standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression, she was about a head shorter than Usnavi, not exactly an uncommon occurrence but to see this height on a cop was a little alarming.

The officer stared at Usnavi for a second,”Mr. De La Vega?”

Usnavi nodded,”May I help you?” “My name is Detective Gutierrez, you were named as Johan Johnson’s emergency contact.”

Usnavi opened up the door a bit more,”What happened?” Detective Gutierrez took a deep breath,”There was an accident. We believe Mr. Johnson was a victim of a hate crime. He was wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt and was around a well known gay bar. He-” Usnavi cut her off,”Is he okay? Can I see him?”

She shook her head, her expression sympathetic,”I’m sorry, he was pronounced dead on his way to the hospital last night. We’ve been trying to track you down in the meantime.”

Usnavi felt his knees go out from underneath him and Detective Gutierrez grabbed him before he hit the ground, as Usnavi pressed his hands to his mouth and let put a quiet gasp,”Are you sure?”

“We got his name from his California ID, and he was lucid enough to confirm it for us.” She kneeled down next to him, going to reassuringly touch his shoulder but thought better of it,”I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. De La Vega.”

Usnavi stood up leaning heavily on the door frame, he offered his hand to Detective Gutierrez and she allowed him to pull her up. Usnavi’s voice was shaky and quiet,”When can I see him?”

“At your earliest convenience, he’s at New York Presbyterian.” Detective Gutierrez flinched when her pager loudly, there was muffled talking on the end, and she answered it,”Detective Gutierrez. What? Yeah, I’m on my way. Mr. De La Vega, I’m sorry for your lose, but here is my number incase you would like to contact me for information.”

Detective Gutierrez began to head down the hall and Usnavi crumpled the paper she gave him and tossed it on the end table, he stumbled to the couch and grabbed Johan’s cardigan, inhaling the scent of coconut and cinnamon, he felt his eyes grow hot and he buried his face in the cardigan, trying to muffle his cries. Usnavi felt as if he’d been hit in the ribs with a bag of rocks, his lungs felt like they weren’t getting enough oxygen, and his heart felt like it was being pulled apart and stuck in a blender. Usnavi felt a wave of anger come over him as he flipped the coffee table in front of him, scattering Johan’s papers and notebooks to the floor. He pulled the cardigan close and began to wring the fabric. He looked at his phone, his chest slowly tightening, he thought of what Rainbow said,”Call me when you hear from him.”

Usnavi jolted when his door banged open, and Sonny stood there panting,”Usnavi? Pete said there was a cop outside the bodega and when I asked around they said the cop was looking for you…” Sonny trailed off, looking around at Usnavi curled up on the couch and the flipped over coffee table and the scattered papers,”Navi? What happened?”

Usnavi took a deep shuddering breath and tried to get through the sentence without breaking down,”The cop showed up to tell…..to tell me that Johan…… that he died.”

Sonny shut the door and sat down on the middle cushion of the couch,”What happened?”

“They think he was a victim of a hate crime.” Usnavi looked at Sonny teary eyed,”Sonny, how am I gonna tell his family?”

Sonny swallowed and looked at his cousin,”I’ll do it?”

Usnavi furrowed his brow at his cousin,”Seriously?”

Sonny nodded,”You aren’t in the best condition at the moment. I’ll call them.” Usnavi stood up, lurching slightly,”I’ll be on the fire escape.”

Sonny dialed Rainbow’s number, trying not to think to deeply about what happened to Johan, not if he wanted to keep it together. He cleared his throat, as Rainbow answered the phone. “Hello, Usnavi?” Rainbow asked.

“No, it’s Sonny, Usnavi’s cousin.” Sonny said taking a deep breath.

“Oh! Have you heard anything from my brother?”

Sonny’s eyes felt hot and he squeezed them shut,”Not exactly.”

There was some muffled conversation on the other end and Sonny heard some faint shuffling, Rainbow’s voice came back concerned,”What happened? Is everything okay?”

Sonny shook his head,”No, you should come to New York though. Something happened. Johan is dead.”

Rainbow’s voice was quiet and disbelieving,”What? What happened?”

Sonny shrugged,”The cops think it was a hate crime.”

He heard Rainbow take a moment to try and calm her frantic breathing, her voice was trying to be level,”Let me talk to Usnavi.”

Usnavi came back into the living room after Sonny called for him, he took the phone from Sonny and hopped for his voice to not break,”Hello?” Rainbow’s voice was thick,”Is it true? Is my brother…. Is he dead?”

Usnavi rubbed his chest,”Yes, I’m sorry.”