STREETLIGHT.

ind. priv. fem!usnavi of in the heights. penned by kaylee.

[onthediispatch-deactivated20160]

  he can’t help but LAUGH at that…since WHEN does usnavi NOT work??? benny honestly can’t remember a time that that has EVER happened. 

   ❝ hey. don’t be like that. i KNOW you don’t eat, ai’ght? jus’ tryna look out for my li’l homie. don’t play that shit with me, usnavi. ❞

  benny doesn’t MEAN to sound angry…he’s just FRUSTRATED at the fact that she doesn’t seem to REALISE how much he CARES about her well-being…..he wonders sometimes if it’s even worth TRYING. 

      ❝ —uh. shit. ah. i know lightbulb. bombillo. and. uh. tienda. is store. i think. an’…..puerta is door. ❞

 whipping around, he scans for items in the bodega he might know….pointing them out as he goes along. 

  at the milky ways; ❝ chocolatina. ❞ at the newspapers; ❝ periodicos. ❞ and finally, at usnavi herself: ❝ mi mejor amiga. ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

    she’s just smiling along as he lists things until he gets to the last one and her head ducks down to hide the grin that lights up her face.  there’s times where usnavi suddenly realizes how lucky she is to have such a great best friend,  and this is one of those,  the feeling enveloping her out of nowhere.

     ❝  ayy,  you’re gettin’ it,  bro!  can’t believe my main amigo’s gonna be more fluent than i am.  i’m so proud.  ❞  she’s being a little sarcastic,  maybe,  joking around,  but it’s all in good nature.  ❝  lightbulb,  store,  door,  definitely the most important words to know in any language.  ❞ 

[torontos-archive]

and it’s all about the legacy they left with me, it’s destiny and one day i’ll be on a beach with sonny writing checks to me

[mi6thiief]

@bodegaborn

“ Yo hermana. “ He grins as his sister walks through the door, turning from the shelves to properly greet her. “ You sleep well for once? You gotta stop falling asleep on the job. “

[bodegaborn-blog]

❝  man,  i fell asleep on the job once,  chill!  ❞  they both take their job at the bodega seriously ; it’s not her fault they’d run out of energy drinks that one time and she’d dozed off.  she walks behind her brother and lightly punches her arm before leaning up against the front counter.  ❝  slept great,  f-y-i.  store been busy today?  ❞

[debtsweowe]

     “don’t be mad, cuz, drake’s more important than EVERYBODY.” she’s always beginning to slowly back out of the bodega, her plan being to run if she doesn’t get the approval. “so, we’re good right? i’ll be back before midnight. you know what, scratch that, i’ll be back before two. we’re good?”

[bodegaborn-blog]

❝  you really gonna stalk drake all night?  back by ten.  ❞  cue eye roll.  ❝  wait wait wait,  before you leave,  pop quiz:  if me and drake were falling off a cliff and you could only save one of us.  you’d pick me,  right.  right??  ❞

[rcstlesstoclimb-blog]

          really, she should be used to usnavi’s shenanigans, but she can’t help but poke fun. she leans on the door frame to the bodega, arms folded across her chest. ❝ you SURE you run this place? ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

usnavi’s leaving all the sunglasses on her face to prove a point.  what’s the point??  who the hell knows,  honestly.  maybe that she’s cool enough to rock this look.  maybe that she’s not gonna let nina judge her.  ❝  yo,  i’m rockin’ all these sunglasses,  girl.  you wish you could be this COOL.  ❞

[bedowntown]

she’s going to watch for a couple moments, eyebrows raising before speaking, “ buenas tardes, usnavi. ”

[bodegaborn-blog]

❝  ay,  nessa!  ❞  she shakes the sunglasses off her face and onto the counter in front of her,  shooting vanessa a grin.  ❝  if it isn’t the loveliest girl in the place!  ❞

[likelancelot-blog]

      Well. Ginny didn’t exactly have a plethora of options at the moment, so her options were either to wander around until someone else showed up…or speak to the person who was wearing a dozen sunglasses. Considering how horribly lost she was, her choice was rather obvious. Besides, she had seen stranger things in New York the past couple of days.

      “Excuse me? Misses?” Her accent was dripping with French consonants – she’d only been in this county a few months, and her English wasn’t perfect. Despite the strange looks she often got when she spoke, she wasn’t ashamed. Everyone in this country had so many different languages and accents that came with them – why should she be ashamed of being another immigrant?

      “Pardon me, but – I’m afraid I’m rather lost.

[bodegaborn-blog]

it’s kinda hard to see through a dozen pairs of sunglasses,  so please excuse usnavi as she flails a little at the unexpected voice.  she grabs the sunglasses from her face and throws them onto the counter in front of her.  it’s not exactly embarrassment coursing through her,  but it’s something close enough for there to be a blush springing up on her cheeks.  whatever.  smile for the customer.

❝  yo,  uh — yeah,  where y’trying to go?  i got maps,  only five bucks,  real good deal —  ❞  and an arm points the way to the small display of paper maps on a shelf  ( not exactly popular now that everyone’s got smartphones and google maps,  but hey,  worth a shot. )   ❝  ya new in the city?  not often someone gets lost enough to end up in the heights,  usually they realize where the hell they are like,  two subway stops ago,  and then go back to times square or lady liberty or wherever the fuck touristy shit,  y’know?  

               —— but hey,  happy to help ya find your way to wherever.  i gotchu.  ❞

[nuclearwheeler]

@bodegaborn

❝ yo ! usnavi, ❞ she will greet the other girl while leaning back onto the counter. her neck cranes as she sweeps the bodega.  ❝ vanessa show up yet? ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

❝  man,  why you always gotta ask that??  ❞  she rolls her eyes,  annoyed.  if vanessa had shown up,  usnavi sure as hell would be talking to her instead of to benny,  so the answer should be pretty obvious.

[onthediispatch-deactivated20160]

cont. from here (x)

    ❝ you’re right…i didn’t HAVE to…i WANTED to. ❞

he figured she hadn’t eaten; benny hadn’t seen her since this morning, and he felt bad. he WAS gonna check up on her on his lunch break…but he got DISTRACTED. 

    ❝ woah! hey, slow down, lil homie. ❞

 benny chuckles when usnavi basically INHALES the pizza slice; causing him to tear off a sheet from the paper towel roll he’d swiped from the salon on the way in and give it to her. 

         ❝ there’s plenty more to go ‘round…but save some for me ‘n sonny, a’ight? your boys gotta eat too!  ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

   ❝  well,  thanks for wanting to,  man.  ❞   

someone please tell her it’s rude to talk with your mouth full.  nah,  scratch that — she knows it’s rude.  but she’s doing it anyways.  sorry,  benny.  she really is grateful,  though!  she takes the paper towel and wipes some pizza sauce off the side of her mouth,  rolling her eyes at benny.

    ❝  i’m slow,  i’m goin’ slow!  fuckin’ turtle pace right here,  slowest pizza eating ever,  swear to god.  don’t worry, i didn’t forget about my boys,  you guys can have the rest,  i’m good with just one piece.  ❞   

[debtsweowe]

@bodegaborn

     “yo, cuz,” sonny says as she slams her hands on the bodega’s counter. “i KNOW i just asked for some days off — ” her excuse? she was sick. the reality? graffiti pete was playing hooky and she wanted to join. “ — BUT i heard drake’s gonna be in the city and i really gotta go wait outside his hotel. we cool?”

[bodegaborn-blog]

❝  man,  since when is drake more important than me?  i’m wounded,  really.  ❞  usnavi’s acting more offended than she actually is,  but she could definitely use sonny’s help around the bodega,  and she’s already taken off three days this week.  it’s getting kinda ridiculous.

[bodegaborn-blog]

listen, okay.  she’s really,  really bored,  the bodega has been EMPTY all day,  and.  yeah,  she put half their sunglasses display on her face.  big deal.  don’t judge her.

[bodegaborn-blog]

k i’m sleep gnight y’all

[bedowntown]

        “ for real. ” a teasing grin. “ i mean– if you wanna. ”

[bodegaborn-blog]

        ❝  yeah — yeah,  definitely,  for sure — hey,  y’wanna go grab dinner?  maybe?  ❞ 

[onthediispatch-deactivated20160]

    ❝ for sure! you’ll be the first t’know! ❞

❝ jus’ for me? wow, i’m flattered. have i managed t’get   miss de la vega to actually STOP workin’ for more than   TEN minutes??? ❞

     ❝ somebody gimme an award. ❞

ah, SCREW work. he’d MUCH rather be here talking to her. he feels GUILTY about not seeing her as much…..but he couldn’t HELP it if the other was too damn STUBBORN to leave the store to hang out. man, what happened? 

    ❝ pizza is no problem, chica. anythin’ t’get some more MEAT on your bones. you’re ‘bout as skinny as a twig. ❞ 

   he reaches out and pinches her arm to prove his point. between how SKINNY she was getting and the raggedy clothes, benny was certain that if people from Manhattan saw her on the street, they’d think she was a HOMELESS person. 

       ❝ i gotta keep an’ eye on you. don’t want ya t’go TOO long without eatin’ somethin’. gotta keep my best friend around for as long as i can. ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

    ❝  hey,  i stop working sometimes!  ❞   god,  that’s a lie,  but she HAS TO work nonstop,  okay?  gotta carry on her parents’ legacy,  gotta put food on the table.

   ❝  i ain’t that skinny,  c’mon.  CHILL,  bro.  ❞   she yanks her arm back from him,  rubbing the spot he pinched.   ❝  man,  i get it,  i appreciate the concern and all,  but y’don’t gotta worry,  okay?  i’m here,  i’m not wasting away or nothin’.  ❞    an eye roll follows the words.   

      ❝  yo,  pop quiz—  ❞   ( aka,  time for a change of subject. )   ❝  i wanna hear what spanish your girl’s been teachin’ you,  ready set go.  ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

what is with lin and writing main characters who talk a ton and work nonstop jfc

[bodegaborn-blog]

❣ // bedowntown

fluff!!!  nvm this is angst sry   ( accepting!! )

        * 14. my / your muse is sick and the other must take care of them. 

it’s december.  that’d be bad enough by itself — usnavi’s parents passed away in december,  and even though it was years ago the entire barrio treats her like something fragile all month.  and she hates that,  hates all the memories that spring up like the last embers from a slowly dying fire every year around this time,  hates that the slightest cough makes her panic that someone else she loves is sick and dying——

yeah,  december would be bad enough by itself.  but now vanessa is sick.  usnavi sits at her girlfriend’s side with a neverending stream of tissues and water and meds.  she’s trying not to show it  ( vanessa is insisting she’s fine it’s just the flu but god that’s how it started with her parents too )  but usnavi is freaking out.  as soon as vanessa falls asleep usnavi gets up and starts pacing the room,  the back and forth motion doing nothing to get out the endless anxious energy flooding her body.  ( she still has the dress she’d worn to her parents’ funeral in her closet,  it was a little big on her then so it’d probably still fit,  she doesn’t want to think about this but she has to plan,  just in case,  just in case. )  

she’s lost too many people in the past few years.  she won’t lose vanessa too,  she decides.  sits back down beside her,  presses a wet washcloth to her forehead,  texts benny to bring by some get well soon balloons,  and waits for vanessa to get better.

[onthediispatch-deactivated20160]

   ❝ right? i gotta find out WHY he does that. ❞

 he shuffles the milky ways & paper in his hands, ultimately  stuffing the candy bar in his back pocket and tucking the  papers under his arm. 

        ❝ hey, ya free for lunch later? i kinda wanna go through             some more spanish….nina’s been teachin’ me some, but             i wanna learn more. you in for helpin’ me? ❞

[bodegaborn-blog]

   ❝  yo,  when you find out tell me okay,  i gotta know.  greatest mystery the barrio’s ever seen,  i swear.              yeah,  bro,  for sure!  was plannin’ on cleaning the store but hey,  i can shift around my schedule,  y’know,  push the cleaning back to tomorrow,  always got time for you.  we can work on your spanish,  you can buy me some more of that really good pizza from down the street,  it’s a win-win.  ❞