"Not everyone has pocket dimensions," Felix corrects, "but they exist and as far we can tell all our magic is somehow derived from them one way or another."

"How many people do have pocket dimensions?" Raven asks.

"Mages here are close to one per hundred people." 

"Currently thirty... out of less than four hundred in all history."

She blinks. 

"Why so few? Are there drawbacks you neglected to mention?"

"Ah, dreamshaping is not publicly known. And the only way to wake up is to find a portal so most dreamshapers never do. Portals are invisible while closed and only open on specific conditions that vary per portal."

"But why would you not make this publically known?" she presses.

"Would that not reduce the death rate, if potential dreamshapers knew to have another on standby to rescue them? 

"Ah, we only took possession of the dreamshard less than a year ago. The previous owner kidnapped people and turned them into dreamshapers." His grip tightens around the dreamshard, which is remarkable given how tight it was. "I don't know why no one before him made it public. Presumably they didn't want to share the power or were afraid it could be used unethically, which the previous owner proved it could happen. We were afraid someone could start a fight and the surviving dreamshapers are by and large not in... a good condition to deal with something as difficult as going public with that sort of thing. So we are waiting so everyone could get their bearings, organize and investigate what we could do. Also, pocket dimensions are personality-based but it's hard to guess what a person might get. Their dimensions could create monsters or people."

"Wait." Cat, who has been watching quietly as Raven bombarded Felix with questions, leans forward.

"Neither of our dimensions created monsters or people without our knowledge, did they? Rae said there were birds in hers..." 

"I don't know if you did before I rescued you, but it won't happen again by accident. You can find out next time once you fall asleep your dimension's traits. From now on you two are unable to sleep or dream normally instead it's going to let you dreamshape and it comes with something akin to a proprioception. Sorry, I should've thought of a better explanation."

"There's no need to apologize," Cat reassures him. 

"After all, you did rescue us. And if there haven't been many dreamshapers in need of rescue before now, you can't have had much of a chance to practice explaining." 

"Besides, I can simply keep asking questions until I have learned all I wish to know about dreamshaping," Raven adds. 

Cat snorts.

She rolls her eyes at him. "Correction: I shall continue asking questions until I have learned enough about dreamshaping that I can use it safely, and then we shall move on to other priorities." 

Nod. "It's generally not dangerous to use it if you are aiming for something non-interfere, but you only will know by sleeping. I'm glad to answer questions. Ideally, I would like some help navigating your universe."

"Right, yes, that should probably take priority," she agrees, shaking her head.

"Cat, this seems like your area..." 

He shouldn't need the prompt, under normal circumstances, but these aren't normal circumstances. The pack bond is still flickering in and out, or she'd have used that to prompt him without Felix hearing.

"Yes, of course."

He starts thinking. Felix's world doesn't have their kind of magic, and he hasn't mentioned anything about shifters...

"First of all, do you need a place to stay, or can you live comfortably in your own dimension?" 

"I'm entirely comfortable there. I'm not entirely sure if people would notice if I used my portals outdoors too much, but I can make it very comfortable to live in."

"If the one I saw earlier was a typical example, your portals look like nothing that is possible with this world's magic," is Raven's assessment. 

"Perhaps you should look into private or secluded locations in which to use them."

"I would say you should have one in this house," Cat puts in, "but I cannot guarantee that we will still be living here in a few months' time." 

He is running through his mental map of the city to find useful points for portals. 

"Is there a limit to how far apart your portals can be?" 

Smile. "There is no limit to how far apart they can be. Once set they stay put, but one needs to be asleep to set them up. They can be destroyed too."

"So, could one use portals to travel thousands of miles in a few steps?" Raven asks.

"By stepping through one portal, and then through another that is a few feet away in the dream dimension but thousands of miles away in this world?" 

Felix shakes his head. "They are portals to and from the pocket dimension which sort of overlaps regular space... typically if you enter in a dimension, move a distance and then walk out, you will find yourself moved the same distance and direction."

"I see." She nods.

"...what is your dimension like? It would be good to expand my sample size from...'two'."

"Ah, mine is... it's pretty versatile in terms of creating non-magical things, but has a tendency to over-decorate which I find puzzling. By default, fire does not harm people there unless a pyrokinetic is telling it to. It also does not like to make... a form of light-producing technology that is the default source of light in my Earth..."

"...it can make people."

"...what are the constraints on 'making people?" Raven has an interesting look on her face.

"Could you create a copy of a specific real person, with all of their memories intact?"

Cat goes utterly still, not even breathing.