"But you-" Dominic cut himself off. It was probably no use in mentioning that the hellhound had most definitely mentioned before that she would be eating Necthan's bed, unless he had misheard her the first time. He tilted his head and then went back to building his sand castle with the small bat twins helping him out the best they could despite their lack of hands. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was acting his age...maybe a few years younger, if he was being honest with himself.
Dominic hadn't misheard, simply misinterpreted. She may not plan on actually eating Nec's bed, but there certainly wouldn't be much left of it either!
Nec was more interested in putting a few shells and a twig on a small tower in the middle of his base. "So how d'you feel? About being here. Not many ways to get back home it you wanted...".
Dominic thought about the question, placing a makeshift flag (really just a leaf) in the center of another lump of sand like it was some sort of flag. "You know, I didn't know how I would do here before. No money, no food, no home, and all alone. But people here are a lot kinder than where I lived. I don't think I would want to go back for anyone but Zinnia. I know she would love it here." He smiled softly at the memory of the fiery older girl.
"It's an adjustment. Especially if you're used to a set routine or way of life. Guess I was lucky that way, I had no routine what so ever so at least that part was easy to get used to." Adding another mound of sand on his base, Nec smirked glancing up at him." Girlfriend? And yeah, they are. Guess they all remember how it was to suddenly be dropped here, so they do what they can. As for money and stuff I can help you out. Lots of tradi g going on too, you don't necessarily need actual cash."
Dominic chuckled softly. "No, not a girlfriend. Zinnia didn't like me that way, and I didn't like her that way." He gave a half shrug, before tilting his head. "You would be willing to go that far to help me out?" He was a bit surprised by the kindness, but he figured Necthan was just a good person when he wanted to be. "I would be glad for the help," he replied. "I do need to update that cabin, after all." It looked like it had been abandoned for a long time even despite Dominic's attempts to spruce it up to the best of his ability.
"Ah. Well last I checked, girlfriends stabbed you when they got upset, so just friends are probably healthier."
He smiled at the surprise but shrugged. "Just doing my part. I got a lot of help when I first got here. I know what it means to have it. Plus, it's what friends do, right?" Most likely, when people heard he needed the help. Nec wouldn't be surprised if more offered their help in one way or the other. It seemed to be the default around here after all!
"Not all of them do that." At least to Dominic's knowledge; sure, if you upset a girl by cheating on her or something then one might very well deserve being stabbed. He would never do such a thing to his significant other, if and when he ever happened to find someone who didn't mind dating someone who was more than half dead. He started to work on another tower. Maybe Necthan had a girlfriend before and their relationship had ended badly?
"You know what you wanna do with the cabin? Or what needs to be done? I didn't get a very good look at the walls and support when I was there." Wondering if it was just a solid clean and cosmetic upgrade that was needed or if it was rotting. The first one would only need some work and a few supplies. The second alternative might make it worth just tearing down and rebuilding!
"A floorboard or two might need to be fixed," Dominic answered. "They creak when I walk on a couple of them, and one wall had a hole in it, roughly a foot wide. But that can be patched up, I think, with a bit of wood. The roof needed a bit of patching, too." He could handle patching the roof, so long as he did it later in the afternoon or around that time since it was cooler though he would need to be careful not to fall.
More than expected, but it might not be too bad. Nec had done his share of rebuilds and fixes, so the work wouldn't be a problem as long as the cabin was in decent shape to begin with.
"Not too bad. Long as there's no rot it should be an easy fix. Just need the materials."
A last mound turning into a tower and Nec decided his sandcastle was done. It now had four towers, all with twig-flagpoles, a few shells for windows and a big moat.
Dominic's own tower was less elaborate, just three towers and some hills and valleys surrounding it with what looked like a drawbridge made of sticks and shells decorating the tallest of the towers.
"You could make a great architect," Dominic quipped with a smile, motioning to Necthan's castle. "Where would we get the materials? Unless you were planning on trading for them." He had fun building the castle with the changeling, and he hoped maybe they could do more things like this.
"Architect? Nah, don't think I'd have the patience. What were you planning on becoming after school?"
He wasn't sure where they'd get supplies, but only because he didn't know the specific shops. "We can ask Raf. Plywood and things like that we'll have to buy, buy you can make decent furniture with regular wood you chop yourself."
Dominic fell silent for a few moments. "Well...I don't know. I didn't think about it much before I died, and now that I'm a zombie..." He shrugged slightly. "I would have probably been made to be an attendant no matter how intelligent I happened to be."
He looked up at Necthan, still uncertain as to making an angel's acquaintance after how he'd been treated by them before.
"Attendant to what?" So far it sounded like Dominic had been lucky to end up here. He was about to ask if there was anything the young zombie had an interest in, something that might become a career, but before he had the chance, both their sandcastles started to move!
The towers grew taller and sleeker, the sand seemed to change into a cold mass, holes shaped like windows appeared and the drawbridge and flagpoles straightened and flags either rose or Dominic's leaf-flag turned I to a flapping blue and green banner!
Essentially, their castles turned into miniature, real castles!
"Well... It's not the worst thing the IF has done...". Nec sat still and watched as his moat filled with water.
Dominic frowned. He didn't really want to be specific, but he figured Necthan deserved the truth. "I would have been a shervant to one of the 'higher beingsh' that went there, probably," he answered, for once not caring about his speech impediment. "Made to do menial work like clean up after them and continue to be treated like dirt..."
The zombie's voice trailed off when the sand began to change, seeming to morph into stone and his eyes widened briefly. This was what the Illogical Field was prone to doing, in addition to potentially causing harm to other people? He wasn't sure how he should feel about it.
"No, maybe not," he murmured, touching the banner that had been created out of the leaf. That didn't mean he was willing to put his faith in the IF either though, since this was his first encounter with it.