Shortly, a blonde boy around Raven's age shows up at the door. He blinks, accepts Raven's explanation of Milliways, and waves at Joss before heading over to the bar and ordering a drink. 

"Joss, was it? Michael; I'm Isabella's brother." He holds out a hand for her to shake, turning to lean with his back to the bar. 

He's also a shifter: his magic looks similar to his sister's, and he also seems to be the source of the soft golden connection between them. 

"It was," she confirms, shaking his hand with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

She looks over at Isabella. "Feels exactly the same as you do."

"Meaning that you can tell I'm both a shifter and...a mage?" Clearly Raven filled him in on more than was spoken aloud. He doesn't sound like he entirely believes it, yet, but is willing to entertain the possibility. 

"Can you make anything of our pack bond? Rae has a theory about it..."

"Yeah," Joss nods. "It's... hard to define. Because being a mage is intrinsically part of who you are. When you use a particular part of your ability it's clearer to me, but...all pretty interconnected into what makes you, you."

She pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how best to explain. "It feels soft," she says after a minute. "And golden. Kinda like warm sunlight. It...it reminds me what I feel when I'm near hellhound packs. A...very close bond that...it's like what family should be?"

He can't help smiling at this description, or reaching out to pull Raven in for a hug. (The pack bond hums.)

"Can you see where it originates, if it does? And can you tell if it's the bond itself that lets us speak to each other, or something external?"

And Joss smiles at that, somewhat wistfully, and a tiny bit bitterly. She's glad of the distraction of the questions.

"It's not so much 'seeing'," she admits. "More of a feeling..." She pauses focusing on the feeling, trying to track where it originates. It's difficult at first, so wrapped around them, but eventually. "It originates from you, Michael. Can't see how exactly, but...you're the source. Can't tell if you can speak to each other from the feel of it, it's not that detailed. I just know it exists. From the way you knew that I had the ability to feel what you are, and it, suggests that you can at least communicate ideas with each other."

"Oh, we can speak to each other telepathically," Cat clarifies. "It's how I knew to come here. The question is whether our ability to do that is intrinsic to the pack bond, or through something that was supposedly separate. It's alright if you can't figure it out, we're mostly just curious." He gives her an indescribably charming smile.

"I'm the alpha; that's probably what you're seeing - or, feeling. The pack centres itself around me."

"Always good to be curious," she says. She leans back slightly, tilting her head at the smile. She gives a flat smile back. "You're cute, but not my type, hun."

"That does explain the difference in..." she gestures. "Power levels. It's not major, but you're definitely...brighter at a baseline."

That gets a laugh. "Likewise."

He nods at Joss' evaluation. "Hmm, I wonder if I'm a more powerful mage, as well?"

"Well, we have one way to find out," Raven reminds him. 

She explains - out loud, for Joss' benefit - the process of meditation to tap into one's magic for the first time, and demonstrates, producing another flurry of localised wind. Cat begins attempting to meditate.

Raven sits at the bar and watches quietly, trying not to disturb him. After a few minutes, she writes a note on the back of a napkin and shows it to Joss. 

Would you like to try? I have a hypothesis about magic which you could help me test.

She reads the note, having paid attention to the explanation given. She considers it, before scribbling a response.

Well, if it's for Science, why not? she gives a slightly unsure smile, but then closes her eyes, and slides easily into a medititive state like she's been doing it for a long time.

It's so nice to have people who will help with experiments.

Joss meditates for a while. She's capable of following the instructions probably better than most nine-year-olds could manage, and that's the age at which children generally start mage training, but gets absolutely nothing, well after Cat has managed to light his hair on fire and pat it all out again. 

"Almost all humans are supposed to get at least a tiny effect," Raven explains, "even if they are not powerful enough to be trained as mages. I might be on the borderline."

She seems pleased with the result. "This means my theory is likely correct, and this type of magic requires something with which only natives of my world are born."

Joss lets out a relieved laugh. "Thanks the gods. No offence, but whatever the hell my ability is was enough for me. And glad to be of service."

She squints at Michael. "Did you actually manage to burn yourself or are you okay without medical attention?"

"Perfectly fine, it stopped as soon as I lost concentration," he confirms, then frowns.

"I think it may have done something strange to the pack bond, though..."

He looks around the room, eyes slightly unfocused, and stops on Joss. "Oh." 

Joss jerks back slightly, and then stares at him. "What? I- Are you okay?"

"I'm...not entirely sure." 

Cat puts a hand to his head, as if it pains him.

"It feels like...the pack bond but more? Except I can feel you there as well, and you're not pack..."

She frowns, tapping her fingers on her thigh. "That sounds..."

She stops, looks around. "Alright, I'm going to test something here." She starts towards the door, before turning. "I promise he's friendly. Just very enthusiastic."

She opens the door and whistles.

A few minutes later, a large dog bounds through the door, stops, looks back at its tail, seems to frown when it sees a flame there that promptly vanishes, before turning back to Joss. It bounds forward and headbutts her in the stomach, before jumping up to lick her face. (She's laughing, and obviously not at all concerned by this behaviour.)

Raven makes a rather undignified "eep" sound when the dog appears, and is even more startled by the fact that his tail...was on fire?

Um, alright, she will just assume that this is a shifter Joss knows, because she cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want their pet dog running around an extra-dimensional bar with a pair of newly-awakened mages.

(Cat flinches when she does, and again half a second later.)

Joss grimaces apologetically, and throws an apology over her shoulder.

"Human form I think," she tells the dog, scratching him behind the ears.

There's a blurring around the dog, the sound of cracking bones, and then a young man, maybe a little younger than Joss, is stood there, honestly pouting. "But you whistled," he complains.

"Yeah, so that I wouldn't wake Dale up," Joss says, scritching the back of his neck, despite the fact that he is now taller than her. "Anyway. These are Michael and Isabella," she gestures to the siblings. "Michael, sense-check?" She has forgotten that he won't be aware of the shorthand that her and her flatmates had come up for one of them to know what she was feeling with her Other sense.

can hear him as well - aaah help he's cute - 

- is that Raven's thought or mine? I can't tell anymore -

"Uh, now I'm getting something from your friend as well. And he's definitely not pack, both he and I'd notice."

"Hm," Joss hums quietly. "What are you getting from him? Thoughts? Or just emotions?"

"Are you using me as part of an experiment, Joss?" Rex asks, poking Joss in the side. He doesn't sound upset, more teasing, and Joss is very obviously ticklish as she squirms away from his finger.

He manages to snare her in a hug, and inhales deeply. "You found shifters?" (Internally, he's busy thinking: Jeez, girl, you really are a magnet for the supernatural sometimes, aren't you?) He is as cheerful as he seems, if mildly confused as to why Joss' room is a bar currently, but he seems happy to take that in his stride.

Having sorted out the scents, he looks at the girl first. "Bird of some kind?" he asks. "Sorry, I'm not massively good at identifying birds." He looks to the boy. "You, on the other hand, are a jumble. I mean, strongest scent is cat, but, there's others there as well. A couple of canines, and a couple of birds." He pauses, and looks down at Joss. "I did the thing again, didn't I?" Back up at the siblings. "Sorry, I forget that some people aren't as comfortable with my sense of smell as most of my mates are." (He looks like a kicked puppy at that point, and manages to give the impression of a drooping tail without his tail actually being present.)