Sam was trying to work. The key word there was trying. He wasn't succeeding very well. The little mechanical gadget he was trying to put back together kept going going fuzzy on him, so he would drop whatever tiny piece of metal he was trying to pick up and have to pause, blinking rapidly to get his eyes to focus again. It was getting frustrating, but it was better than what would happen if he tried sleeping again. Gomorrah wasn't much better off, being not only bound to his chosen, but also party to his own twin and twin's chosen's thoughts more often than not, and being much younger than both the human twins. He didn't have as firm a grip on reality as Sam and Cath did-- if they could even be said to have a firm grip on reality-- and being constantly dragged into dreams and visions was disturbing the poor hatchling.

That was another distraction, one every bit as bad as the problems associated with lack of sleep, but one Sam would rather have died than live without. Gomorrah had very quickly wormed his gentle way into his chosen's thoughts, like a constant second train of thought full of affection that never left his awareness. Sam didn't mind in the slightest; he enjoyed being bonded to someone who accepted him without reluctance, and Gomorrah was such a pleasant personality that he would probably have enjoyed the bond even if he didn't have his bond with his brother to compare it to.

And that was the third major distraction, right at that moment. Cath and Sodom had been given the rooms directly beside Sam and Gomorrah's, logically enough, but it meant that whenever Cath was feeling irritable-- which was usually-- or restless-- which was always-- he had only a few paces to go before he had found his brother to complain at. Sam loved Cath, really he did, but his pacing was really beginning to get on his nerves-- and that was quite a feat. If it weren't for the shared sense of disquiet and unsettlement, and the shared fear of falling back into the horrible dreams that neither wanted to think about, Sam would have long since forced Cath out and blocked off their link for as long as he could manage. As it was, though, he didn't quite have the heart. Annoying or not, Cath took comfort in the familiarity of his brother in the face of so many things turned on their ear by their return to this specus, and Sam did, too.

So he let his brother pace across the length of his bedroom in the small suite attached to Gomorrah's larger weyr, then turn and cross it again, hands shoved in his pockets and shoulders hunched. Sodom, his brightness making everything else seem dull, lounged on Sam's bed beside his own twin, who seemed even dimmer by comparison, watching his chosen. Gomorrah had his eyes shut, as if he were trying to doze. Both dragons were small enough still that they didn't even take up half the bed, snuggled up together as they were.

"I jes wanna ge'outta 'ere," Cath said, for the tenth time that evening.

::Then go,:: Sam sent back calmly, forcing his own irritation away. He tried once again to direct his attention at his work. ::I'm sure Sodom wouldn't mind a walk.::

"That en't what I mean, an you know it," Cath grumbled, stopping for a moment to glare impotently at Sam's back. "I wan'-- I wan'-- ou' of here. On a ship. Bloody dragon or no bloody dragon." The glare, Sam felt, was transferred away from him, and onto Sodom, who merely blinked sedately and dragon-grinned at him.

::I don't know that anyone would be very happy with us if we tried,:: Sodom commented brightly. Even though he was just as tense and tired as the rest, he still never gave up trying to ruffle Cath's feathers. This time, at least, Cath didn't rise to the bait, but only snorted and went back to pacing.

He hadn't taken more than two steps when a ringing rap from the front door made him stop again. Every head turned curiously towards the sound. ::Why don't you go get that?:: Sam suggested to his brother.

"It's your damn-- house," Cath grumbled, looking around as if loathe to call the cliff-carved dwelling a house.

::But you can talk,:: Sam pointed out, looking back down at the mess of gears and levers that was supposed to be something useful.

"Should jus' not bother ans'ring," Cath huffed. "As if we wanna talk to anybody, anyway."

:: ... I think you should,:: Sodom said slowly, and without his usual flippancy.

"Eh?" Cath lofted a brow at his bond and, for no reason he could really name, shrugged and prowled over to the door, opening it with a brusque, "What you want?" And then nearly swallowed the words, or would have if he could, as his head tilted back and back to look up into the very serious face of a very tall, very burly looking man. Struggling to get his composure back, he added with a frown, "Who tha hell're you?"

"I am Coder," the big man said. "And this is Tech." The woman behind him-- dressed entirely in black and wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, over which she peered at him-- nodded. If he had felt more like himself, he probably would have offered a charming smile. As it was, he shook his head vigorously at a brief wash of dizziness.

"Those're some damn strange names," he grumbled, mostly to himself.

::Cath?::

His disorientation had, of course, effected the trio still in the bedroom. ::Nothing. Just a pair o'wackos in strange clothes.::

"We know about the dreams you've been having."

"What?" Cath looked sharply back up at the big fellow's face, scowling suspiciously.

::Cath, what's going on?:: Sam poked his head around the wall partitioning the two rooms, entry and bedroom, and both dragons' heads poked out beneath it, closer to the level of his knees. ::Who are they?::

::I don't know.::

"We know about the dreams... about what they mean, why they're coming to you," the big man said. "Coder"; what a horrible name! too much like "static" and... "code". Cath twitched, tried to disguise it with another quick headshake, and smothered it with a sneer.

"Do ye now?" he drawled. Though he couldn't get much of an impression from either of them-- not Sodom's fault, this time, because the dragon wasn't feeling up to shielding him at the moment-- what he could get made him think that they were lying through their teeth.

::Cath--::

::Shut up fer a sec'nd!:: "An-- an whadda ye think ye know?" he growled. It was hard to focus on so little sleep, and being defensive was something he was good at. Behind him, Sam drifted out of the bedroom, into the entry, frowning faintly at the pair in the doorway. Gomorrah ducked back shyly, only his eyes and nose showing, but Sodom, shivering oddly, crept out a bit farther, closer to his bond.

::Cath....::

Simply unable to take the distraction, he whipped his head around to snarl at the dragon, "What?!" Sodom actually, uncharacteristically, ducked down a bit and tried to look apologetic; he didn't even say whatever it was he was going to say. Fighting the urge to give in and apologize, himself, Cath glared at the two poorly-named intruders. "Was there a point t'this?"

Infuriatingly, the big man just smiled, slow and sly. "Yes, Cath, and that will become apparent with time. But for now, I will leave you with a question." Before Cath could let loose the torrent of abuse just begging to be vented in these annoying, uninvited guests of theirs, Tech stepped back into the shadows and Coder continued: "What if, instead of a dream being just a dream, and reality only reality... what if reality was the dream, and the dream, reality? For the only thing that truly separates a dream from one's perception of reality is that one wakes up from the dream."

Cath was so stunned and confused that he let the pair escape, melting back into the shadows and darting off within them, so lightly that their feet didn't even make a sound. By the time he realized their shrouded mental presences were racing away, they were too far for him to even shout curses after them. And besides, he was shaking too badly to get much out. All he could do was slam the door with a very satisfying crack of wood on stone, brace his back against it, and slide weakly to the ground. "Wackos, both of 'em," he muttered, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

But Sam was still staring at the door with that same, faint frown-- as if he'd heard something that Cath hadn't, and that something had stuck in his brain. But Cath, for one, didn't want to think about it. It was bad enough that his head hurt, he was exhausted, and Sodom was trying-- and failing, because he hardly had the energy-- to be cavalier about it all.

I don't care, he told himself fiercely, shoved himself to his feet, yanked the door open, and stormed shakily out with another satisfying door slam.

::Well,:: Sodom said faintly to his brother and his bond's brother, gold eyes fixed on the closed door. ::That was interesting.::