Pull My Strings • •

[dylan ellis griffin]

It wasn’t exactly easy living in an ever changing construction site, but Dylan was doing his best to keep it as comfortable and homely for Bridget. He saved the big jobs and heavy work loads until he had a few days off in his shift patterns, but he was constantly working on something. He might spend an hour sawing or sanding down the wood for some new ceiling beam. Another morning might be perfect for stripping the walls ready for when they settled on that perfect cool blue for the main space. He knew this renovation was the biggest project he had ever taken on, but he also knew it would be worth it when it was all done. He had told Bridget to keep her eyes open for any furniture she wanted for their home, even if was a piece he’d have to restore after all this work was done. If they were going to make their apartments into a true home for a family and an ever after then he wanted everything to be filled with love and warmth. He didn’t want cheap flat pack builds that just about did the job.

Dylan hadn’t just been concentrating on the house though. In secret, he had been working on the jewellery box Bridget had brought home the day they first spoke about merging their apartments and the promise of the future together. He had left it for a while, finishing up other projects and setting about pricing up the renovation plans. Then he turned his focus to the beaten up jewellery box. It needed a new stain, a new lining, and Dylan wanted to rehinge and give it a new mirror. It was no more than a day’s work with another one or two for setting and drying. He had other plans for this pretty little box though. An antique jewellery box should show off something old and as perfect as it was. There was a ring his mother had held onto after Dylan’s father had died. He had taken it with her blessing and hidden it in with his ties and cuff links. While he was at work he communicated with Bridget’s father. It wasn’t so uncommon since the pair frequently sent medical articles and journals to each other that they found interesting. This time however, Dylan informed the good doctor of his intentions to marry his daughter if she would have him. It wasn’t asking for a blessing so much, but Dylan appreciated the good old fashioned traditions in his own way.

With the box finished, cleaned up, and lined with soft blue velvet that reminded Dylan of Bridget’s eyes. It looked nothing like the worn, abused buy he had been handed weeks before. The stunning Irish ring sat in the empty ring slots, the only piece in the whole box. Dylan smiled, closing the lid and locking the clasp. He carried it through to the kitchen where he sat it down in the centre of the table. After that Dylan turned the oven on to heat the casserole he had made earlier, and then returned to working on his latest part of the renovation, which was plastering a newly built wall that would give them an office space for Bridget off the main living space. He wanted everything to seem perfectly normal when she came home. Dylan wanted this to be a complete an utter surprise for his love.

• • •

TAGGED! Bridget Cameron Delaynee
WORDS! 573!
OUTFIT! Darling Doctor!
LYRICS! Your Guardian Angel - - - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
NOTES! <3

[Bridget Cameron Delaynee]

Bridget didn't mind the mess they were currently living in because she knew it was being created to give them the home they wanted. Sure, it was probably taking than it could have if they'd hired a couple contractors to help out but Bridget understood where Dylan was coming from wanting to build their home himself; or in their case, reconstruct. She couldn't wait to be able to fill their home with little things or get her hands on that massive collection of books they shared. Her own collection had been large to begin with and merging it with Dylan's meant an even greater pile of boxes in the corner. She didn't like that part of it, having to box just about everything up just so it didn't get dirty, especially when she was in the mood to read something specific and couldn't find it because she didn't know where it was. But she was making do and spending a little bit more time doing other things and trying, and failing, to keep her mind off the books. Still, she just kept thinking that it would all be worth it and it absolutely would be.

She would have already been there, seeing if she could either distract Dylan or if there was anything she could do to help him but she'd gotten carried away with some shopping. She'd only meant to step in and see if the little shop had any new pieces. Bridget didn't know what to call the shop though the best description was flea market without all the booths. There was a lot of junk but there were a few gems and Bridget loved looking through it all. She'd only gone out for lunch with Fallon and shop for her mother's birthday gift because it was fast approaching and she wanted to have it sent out so it would arrive on time. And then, since she had to pass the little shop to get home anyway, she stopped in and it was the best and worst mistake ever. She could never just go for a quick browse, it was always a long visit.

But at the end of it, she had a tall hurricane vase, an old bar hutch that needed a little love but would look incredible and what appeared to be a treasure chest. She was a good negotiator when she wanted to be and smiled brightly when she handed over much less than the total asking price, including delivery for the following day. It would mean a bigger mess and more things to work around but she couldn't pass them up. Besides, she'd always wanted a treasure chest and thought it would be perfect for the thick wool blankets that didn't really have a home at the moment. Happy with her purchases, she went straight home to let Dylan know they had to make room for more things. Humming to herself, Bridget let herself into the apartment and set her purchases down just to the side of the door so they'd be out of the way for the time being. "I bought you something." she said with a grin as she turned towards Dylan. "Hey, you finished it." She said, noticing the jewellery box on the table.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || dylan ellis griffin
Words || 543
Clothes || Bubbly Blonde
Music || Written in the Sand --Old Dominion
Notes || <3

[dylan ellis griffin]

There was something special about building his own home. He knew he was only truly renovating the space, but it wasn’t going to look anything like the two apartments he and Bridget used to live in. It would be a slow process, but Dylan enjoyed sitting together at night, talking about how they wanted the space to be. He liked picking out colour schemes and deciding if they wanted things to be closed off or open plan. There was still a lot to design, but plenty of time in which to make decisions and change their minds. Dylan couldn’t wait for it to be complete, but he wasn’t about to rush such a job like this. He wanted to make sure he was totally happy with his work, and even more so that Bridget was happy with the home he was building for them. She was putting a lot of trust into him for this. This was them both saying that they were in this for the long run, and more than that they were both settling down in a home they wanted to turn into something wonderful. At least that what was Dylan was hoping for when he looked around at the mess they were currently living in, envisioning what it could turn into.

There was a great deal that they could turn their little home into. There was a great deal they could turn their life together into. Dylan had dreams of where he saw them both in ten or twenty years. Sometimes it surprised him given that there had been a spell in his life when he was unsure if he’d make it to another birthday. That felt like a lifetime ago at the same time, though. The scar hidden in his hair was a reminder that it had been real, but he was still glad that his childhood was outweighed with good memories rather than the bad ones. There was so much more to his youth than the cancer that stole a few years from him. He wanted to have a family that added to those great memories. The experiences that made his childhood so memorable he wanted to pass onto his children.

That would all come much later though. He knew there was plenty to get through first. The biggest step to take was to wait until Bridget opened the jewellery box and saw what he had placed inside. Chuckling, Dylan took a dramatic glance around their construction site of a home. “Is it a power tool to help put up new walls?” He joked, smirking cheekily. Dylan leaned in to steal a quick, sweet kiss from the woman he loved before turning back to the wall. He switched tools and smoothed down the plaster. If they chose to paper over this he wanted it to sit evenly, but at the same time if they chose to cover it with the perfect shade of paint he wanted it to look professional, too. “Aye, I did. I was just waiting for everything to dry and set before I showed it to you. Didn’t want you getting your hands on it too quickly.” He grinned, acting like everything was normal, even though his heart was threatening to break out of his rib cage at that exact moment.

• • •

TAGGED! Bridget Cameron Delaynee
WORDS! 554!
OUTFIT! Darling Doctor!
LYRICS! Your Guardian Angel - - - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
NOTES! <3

[Bridget Cameron Delaynee]

Bridget had always dreamed of having that beautiful house, husband and children running around making an even bigger mess than she had growing up when she got older. But unlike most of the female population, there had never been a face set to that husband, or what their children would look like. She hadn't been one of those girls who had gotten excited about celebrities either so inserting the face of her current celeb crush hadn't happened. She figured one day she would find a man she could picture a future with, see visions of what they would be like ten, twenty, thirty years but until then, she had plans of just enjoying the journey. The journey had brought her to Dylan. He was the one she could see in those coming decades being shared with. Bridget could picture their children running around and that brought an immense amount of joy the blonde.

They were already building that life together, turning their separate apartments into a single dwelling. It was a perfect mix of who they were and Bridget loved being able to help Dylan with it. She might have known much of what went into the remodel but she did love it when he asked her opinion on something as silly as the right shade of white for primer. Sure she could have done without the dust but she knew the dust meant their home was coming together. She couldn't wait to see what all was accomplished by the talented doctor when all was said and finally done. Bridget at least was picturing their home with those little rascals running around, sitting at the table doing their homework or complaining that it was raining and so they couldn't go to the park. She wanted that future so much but she also didn't want to push for it too hard. It would come when the time was right and until then, Bridget was quite happy with her life with Dylan.

Bridget took a moment to enjoy the kiss and her surroundings before coming back with a response. "You know, I had one in hand but put it back for something more practical. I can go right back out and pick it up though. Pink is an appropriate and manly colour for a power tool, right?" She asked seriously. There was mischief in her bright eyes she knew because she couldn't help it when she was being sarcastic sometimes. "I should just not be allowed out without supervision." She was always picking something up that she thought would look perfect in this spot or simply because it called to her. And yeah, more often than not, it was also another project for Dylan to get to whenever he needed to switch over to something a little mindless. "It's beautiful. I almost don't want to touch it." She said with a laugh as she stepped over little bits of construction site debris. Carefully she lifted the box to inspect the work her incredible boyfriend had done. She hadn't been expecting it to be finished for a while yet, not with all the other projects that needed to be done to turn the construction site into a home. Carefully, she lifted the lid and gasped at the shiny, stunning ring sitting nestled in the pretty blue velvet. "Dylan?" She asked, turning towards him with wide eyes.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || dylan ellis griffin
Words || 563
Clothes || Bubbly Blonde
Music || Written in the Sand --Old Dominion
Notes || <3

[dylan ellis griffin]

Dylan loved breathing life back into things. Sometimes he even considered it his job. When he was staring down at a disease ready to obliterate life and he held the tools to remove it, how else could it be described? He took someone who had often only months left to live and gave them twenty, sometimes even fifty more years to enjoy with the ones they loved. Then, with the furniture that had been neglected and left to rot and ruin, he tended to it and nursed it back to health in a different way. He restored its colour, gave it a new purpose and found it a home where it wouldn’t be mistreated, scratched or damaged with mug rings until it looked like some terrible pattern intentionally marked on the varnish. Both aspects of his life were incredibly different, but Dylan often saw them in a similar light; he was saving something deemed lost.

A part of him was a little giddy at the thought that their home would be filled with so many old things. Each piece had a story they might never know, a life lived before they had it, but it was a beautiful mystery. He liked the old things that looked new. So much of his apartment had a classic edge to it already. He wasn’t one for this chrome minimalism that seemed to be reflective of the modern day. He liked a solid piece of wood, aged and restored. Dylan liked feeling the dents and groves when he ran his fingers over something. That lived in touch made a house a home in his opinion. There was a warmth that these sharp ages of new apartments lacked. Plus, knowing he had done the work himself was a rewarding gift without the rest. It was a memory, a treat, and something that might one day be passed on to someone else where it could have another life.

Dylan shrugged, glancing at the wall he planned to bring down next. “Pink, blue, black…it’ll be covered in dust within two minutes.” He said, acting like none of it was a big deal. So long as it did the job, he didn’t care if it was coated in diamantes and played a merry little tune. His closet for storing tools and supplies was starting to becoming messy and crowded, but Dylan didn’t see the point in tidying in until he had more shelves and hooks in place, but when he was constantly pulling things out on a near daily basis, it didn’t seem worth doing yet! He smiled at her reaction and then waited for Bridget to look inside. When she did, he plucked the ring out and studied it closely, holding it between them. “I don’t know where most of this furniture you bring me lived before here. I don’t know the people who walked this halls before us. But my mam wore this ring and before her my granny had it for sixty-three years.” He paused, taking Bridget’s hand in his own. “I figured if we’re making something new out of something old, we should keep that tradition, eh?” Dylan moved closer, hovering the ring over her finger in anticipation as his forehead rested against hers. “What does Miss Delaynee think about becoming Mrs Griffin? Marry me, Bridget. Make everything perfect.” His words were barely louder than a whisper, his breath washing warmly over her lips as he fought the urge to kiss her until he had an answer.

• • •

TAGGED! Bridget Cameron Delaynee
WORDS! 591!
OUTFIT! Darling Doctor!
LYRICS! Your Guardian Angel - - - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
NOTES! <3

[Bridget Cameron Delaynee]

Bridget didn't have the same amount of patience Dylan did in restoring things. She got bored of it quite easy and moved on to something else; which was why she left those projects to him and stuck to baking and reading. With baking, to her mind, there were always things that needed to be done throughout the entire experience, hardly any waiting at all, depending on which of her recipes she'd chosen. And with the books, it was exciting, thrilling to put herself in the protagonist's shoes. Books for Bridget were worlds she could enter into, have an adventure and still return to her own life with two simple words; the end. She could have hundreds of adventures without ever having to leave her apartment, or even the cozy, oversized wingback she adored. Currently, it was wrapped under plastic to keep it free of the constructions debris but it was her favourite to read in. She figured, once all the renovations were complete, she would have to figure out where it would settle in best. Maybe it would go in the office with her countless books on the shelves or perhaps it would find itself in the living room. Though she was thinking, as most of the books would no doubt end up in her office, it would find a home in a corner. Bridget had ideas and plans and those were the only things she really did like about this renovation.

It would be their home, it would be their space to share and fill with pieces they adored. But her office would be her space to do with as she pleased and that was the one that was surprisingly vague. She needed her bookshelves, she needed her desk and she needed her reading nook to curl up in. The space only had to be rather large because she had more books to her name than some second hand books shops! Bridget imagined Dylan would have his own space as well, tucked away and filled with his tools and side projects. His would most definitely have a lock on it in the future if not sooner to keep her from poking around as well and accidentally breaking something. "Well then, even if it isn't pink, I'm getting spray paint. Fluorescent pink, able to see it from space." She teased, liking the idea of an unbelievably girly toolbox.

Bridget wouldn't lie to herself or anyone else in admitting that she knew this was coming. It was a natural course of action when you loved and cherished someone as much as she and Dylan loved one another. However, she'd still thought it would be some time before it did happen and that it would happen differently. Candles, dinner perhaps. It was the hopeless romantic in her, her addiction to books of all natures but her secret obsession with romances and happily-ever-afters. This however, was absolutely perfect and she should have known Dylan would do something that was perfectly them. She felt her eyes water with his speech and knew she would never forget a word of it for the rest of her life. "Yes, yes, absolutely!" She said, starting with a whisper but found her voice by the end. Bridget couldn't picture her life without Dylan in it. He was in every image she created of her future and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with him by her side. "God yes." She said again, closing the small space between them, kissing him with everything she had in her.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || dylan ellis griffin
Words || 592
Clothes || Bubbly Blonde
Music || Written in the Sand --Old Dominion
Notes || <3