"You're welcome," Tamaris says, smiling. After that, she seems happy to continue their way back in silence for now.

And shortly they've arrived back at the radioshack. How are things going?

Joss is swearing at something she's working on. Apparently completely unaware of-

Her head snaps around, eyes narrowing at Tamaris. "You've changed," she says. Then shakes her head and goes back to the things in her hand. "Nearly done here."

Rex emerges from somewhere near the back of the store. "Welcome back," he says. "Find anything useful?"

"We found a bike store, how exactly has your friend changed?"

"Bikes are good," Rex declares, hugs Tamaris (if he inhales slightly deeper than is perhaps normal, it's not blatantly obvious).

"Hm?" Joss looks up, tilting her head. "Sorry, didn't catch that?" Her phone has been built into a bulky case, and her finger is hovering ready to dial. "Oh, how has she- Did I say that out loud? Oops. 'Scuse me for a second, I'm going to see if this worked..."

"Uh, I'd appreciate having an answer to that question as well, Joss," Tamaris points out - she now has a pad in her hands, and another pen, and appears to be making a list.

Joss looks a tiny bit trapped.

"Ok, you definitely didn't have that pad of paper a minute ago. Where did it come from?"

Joss literally facepalms. "Okay, Tam, I know we've had the conversation about what is and isn't suitable to display. Pens, okay, pens are easily concealed. Notepads not so much."

Tamaris pouts. "It's always important to have a notepad." She looks at Alice. "I think the way we eventually decided to define it was 'pocket dimension', it's not quite right, but things I like to have spares of I just...keep around."

"So... magic is real, that's an interesting complement to the being in a strange place with no idea exactly where here is."

"Ok, so is the way your friend changed also a magical thing?"

Joss clicks her tongue restlessly a couple of times. "It appears to be an..." She looks sharply at Rex, eyes narrowing. "You've got it too. I hadn't noticed." She clicks her tongue again. "You all seem to have...like, half-formed pack bonds? I don't know. Something like that. It's hard to describe."

"That's a strange coincidence, do you not have this, half-formed pack bond? Also, what exactly is a pack bond?"

Joss pauses, thinking about that, trying to see if she does. She's...not sure. "I don't know," she says, frowning somewhat. "It...hm. If Tamaris and Rex were altered...was it the drinks? Or was it coming here?" She tapped her fingers against the back of her phone. "Hard to test. No idea what these bonds are looking for. Oh. They seem to be...looking for some other connection."

When she doesn't continue with a pack-bond explanation, Rex jumps in (it's kind of his area of expertise). "It helps packs communicate, and remain cohesive. You know how the others feel. Basic communication. Really useful for figuring out what a pup wants when they can't actually figure it out themselves. Or for knowing when people need comfort, need to be alone."

"That's intriguing. Is it touch based?" Alice muses and holds out a hand to Zahn. Zahn reaches back and takes her hand. "I don't feel anything."

"I don't feel anything either."

"Pack-bonds normally just happen," Rex says with a shrug. "No need for anything. It strengthens with contact, but it's already there..."

"And that would've been far too easy," Tamaris huffs. "So contact is out, what does that leave, really? Concentrating really hard on each other?"

"Hm, well it could just handholding is out. Maybe it's some other sort of touch."

"If you want a kiss Zahn this is not the way to get it." There's a mischievous smile on her face.

He laughs. "No, but maybe a vulcan mind meld or touching foreheads or something." He turns to look at her and catches her eye. It's a subtle thing if he wasn't looking for some sort of telepathic power he might not notice it but his read on her emotions is a lot better than it would usually be from looking. "Well that's something."

It does, however, make things considerably clearer to Joss. "...That worked then? Eye contact was it? How obvious is it? What does it actually... What is it actually doing?"