FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

He drifted off, still buzzing from the alcohol and snored loudly, snorting himself awake a few hours later to find his bed had another occupant; Bruno had snuck in at some point and he could hear his steady breathing and feel his weight upon the thick mattress. There was plenty of room for a guest, it was a large bed indeed, and Anar slipped his arm over the dogboy's waist and stroked at him gently. He didn't want to wake him, but if he did stir then oh well never mind, Bruno certainly hadn't come creeping in because he was afraid of the dark! The breathing grew shallow, his fussing had begun to cause him to rise from deep sleep and Anar rubbed his new friend a little firmer, slipping his hand round to Bruno's groin and his thick dense-pelted sheath. As he worked his hand around the prominent bulge he felt himself become excited too; would he get sucked again? Even a handjob would be welcome. He couldn't resist a good feel of that fluffy butt neither. Bruno's tail flicked as his hand curved round the swell of his soft backside.

"Mrrrrr," he purred sleepily.

"Hey?" Anar coaxed softly, sliding a finger with purpose over the growing dog cock under his hand.

He gave a small sigh and rolled over to face the aardvark, muzzle to snout, snuffling and twitching his whiskers. He said something quietly in German. Anar obviously couldn't understand it so Bruno darted his tongue out and instigated a kiss.

Eagerly returning the show of affection Anar placed his hands back on the dogboy's body, encouraging him to harden up and was rewarded with low groans that rumbled in his mouth. A paw touched his own eager dick and he pushed into it, giving a clear indication of his desires. This appeared to amuse Bruno somewhat as he hummed with amusement and deliberately teased at him with his soft leathery pad. They lay kissing and stroking at each other a while longer, the only sounds in the room the rustling of the bedcovers and their heavy breathing until Anar felt Bruno's body pull up over his and his weight pressed him down into the bed. Paws caressed his grey thighs, sending shivers through him that brought forth tiny moans that in turn caused his cheeks to redden and burn hotly; guys weren't meant to make noises like that! What was wrong with him?

"I will lick you," Bruno gruffed.

"Oh fuck yeah."

He waited for that agile muscle to wrap round his cock and almost bolted out of the bed as it pushed against his asshole instead. He apologised shakily and allowed Bruno to firmly position him back down and raise his legs. He held his breath and tried not to embarrass himself again; he honestly hadn't expected to be licked in that particular area. He couldn't help but ask if Bruno was actually intending on carrying out this particular act. The low growl of a 'ja' made his pulse race. Would it even feel nice? He was going to find out sooner rather than later. The Alsatian pushed Anar's legs back firmly, pressing his knees into his chest and the warm wet tongue slid down the length of his cock, down his full heavy balls and onto his puckered hole where it swirled round and round. Anar flexed and twitched involuntarily, tingles spreading through him and an ache building inside. He swore under his breath and began tugging on his dick as the intense desire to cum became too much.

"Nein!" Bruno growled and placed his large fury paw atop his hand to stop him reaching climax.

"Ok, you wanna do it?"

The dog moved his head in a negative gesture and pulled himself back up and over Anar, pressing the hot throbbing tip of his dog cock on his now wet asshole. Anar's eyes grew wide and he made a funny sound in the back of his throat - there was no way Bruno's cock was going in there! He shook his head but had a bad feeling that he was going to be ignored and shifted uselessly beneath him in an attempt to wriggle away. He didn't want to give the lad a thump but if he had to...

"Just tiny bit," he soothed, "I will not hurt you. Promise." He licked at Anar's mouth and stroked his body to calm him.

It obviously didn't work as the aardvark demon student's body reacted under stress and his wings promptly materialised and shot out with a rustle, flexing agitatedly. Bruno jerked his head back in surprise with a yelp. "You haff...?"

His heart hammered. Any intense emotions did this to him, it was cool at first but got annoying very quickly, "yeah wings, horns," he pointed to his curved bone structures nestled in his hair, "and tail too," it was getting squished behind him, the pointed tip digging in his lower back, "every demon student gets them in second year." He freed his rear appendage and gave it a swish.

Bruno gave him a good look and grinned, "I like!"

"Glad someone does."

Once the distraction was over though, the Alsatian teenager wasted no time climbing back into ready position, his furry thighs brushing against Anar's smooth grey ones as he gently eased his tip inside him.

Anar grimaced and grabbed at Bruno's back, his claws dragging through thick fur leaving trails. This, this was super gay, like the gayest thing that had ever happened to him in his life; this was more gay than thinking of Rap giving him a blowjob, this was gayer than sucking Buno's cock. He had dog dick in his ass and his body was screaming at him that he did not like this, this was not right and proper and could it stop now please? And yet... he didn't say 'no', he didn't push the dog boy off of him and give him a punch for his trouble. In amongst all the discomfort there was a tiny bit of pleasure and it pulsed, bringing attention to itself until it seemed to make everything else ebb away. Anar was grunting and screwing his face up but as his tight ring allowed a little more access he uttered a moan and Bruno sighed with it. A burst of precum dribbled from his tip. He just wanted to cum, why wouldn't Bruno let him? Mean dog. He'd do anything right now to jerk off. Ha! Not that there was much he hadn't already done was there?

"I want cum in you."

"Sure," Anar replied with gritted fangs. Why not? Seal in the gay why don't you? Have at it!

Bruno pumped at his shaft and emitted soft whines as he furiously masturbated with an inch of his cock stuffed inside of his play partner. He buried himself deeper oh so slowly, his body smushed up against Anar's, his breath coming hard and excited with doggy pants and tiny woofs to accompany Anar's pained 'hnnng's.

The rythmic slap of the dog boy's hand against his ass as he wanked himself off between his spread legs was something that the aardvark teenager probably wouldn't forget in a while, nor the bark as Bruno came inside him followed by a hot weird sensation that spread deep inside where liquids had no business being. A steady trickle left his body as Buno pulled out with a sigh and a kiss.

"Now your turn, ja?" he asked, rolling onto his back and spreading his fluffy asscheeks while smiling and wagging his tail.

"You want me to fuck your ass?" he asked weakly.

"Ja! Ja! I want you. Come in me," he insisted, "is gut."

'Right. If the furry bastard wants a good fucking, I'll give it him' he thought, so with wings outstretched and tail flicking, Anar positioned himself where the dog boy wanted him so badly and nudged at his tiny tight asshole with purpose. Bruno spread himself wider and made it easier for him to penetrate, his asshole gaping all pink and shiny in contrast to his dense brown pelt. As he looked into the Alsatians soft gaze he awkwardly and stumblingly pushed further inside, feeling how warm Bruno was as his tender flesh gripped his raging cock surrounding his shaft so tightly he felt he could cum right there and then and was amazed he hadn't. Anar had no illusions that his dick was anything but fairly average in size but it did have a firm bumpy ridge that stretched from base to tip and thickened with arousal; he was pretty sure that was pleasing his bedmate adequately. Bruno moaned over and over for Anar to cum inside him but beginners nerves were keeping that much needed orgasm at bay. He wanted to put his whole dick inside, not just a bit like Bruno had. He plucked up the courage to ask him if that was alright and when he got a guttural 'ja' he took a deep breath, firmly clamped his hands on Bruno's furry shoulders and leaned right into him, his own arse lifting higher as he pulled his body forward to get in right up to his balls. This was fucking amazing! Lying on top of the softest fur, hard cock stuffed deep inside a tight hole, playmate moaning with pleasure and begging to be filled with his jizz! Paws gripped his backside holding him in tight and furry thighs trembled beneath him. "Merry Christmas," Anar huffed as his dick began to pump and he shot his load with a groan, filling the dog boy up just as he'd wished. His stomach tightened, his balls drained and his ears drooped. Bruno lolled his tongue out and rolled his pretty eyes. He was a happy camper. Exhausted, Anar rolled off and they lay together with heaving chests and intertwined tails.

"Frohliche Weihnachten," said Bruno softly.

"Yeah, that too." With a shudder he returned to his usual appearance, relieved not to have wings pressing into his back any more. How he was going to get used to those bloody things he had no idea. And styling his hair with horns getting in the way was going to be a royal pain as well and how on Earth was he going to manage wearing his skinny jeans with a flipping tail sticking out the bottom of his spine? Soft snores followed his musings and he gently rested his head against Bruno's side, feeling the thump thump of his heart as he slipped into sleep. He supposed he'd better follow suit. It wouldn't do to be tired and grumpy on Christmas day now would it?

Morning soon arrived. Christmas day. Long gone were the days of bursting into his parents room at six am demanding presents only to be fobbed off with a Mars selection box and sent on his way to scoff it all in his room in the space of ten minutes leaving him a little queasy before anyone else was even up. No, this year the big day came around with him sprawled out snoring cuddled up with a cute Alsatian teenager who he'd been intimately enjoying only hours previously. The innocent days of youth were replaced now with something darker and sexier: the hormonal horny phase.

Back at home mother would be pouring bucks fizz into mugs for breakfast while father's pager beeped like crazy as usual; evil never had a day off after all. Edward probably had only two gifts to open - he insisted on his Christmas money going to Adopt a Dolphin or some such shit. The fridge always had newsletters of some sort on them from the wildlife rescue people telling him how much Polly the porpoise appreciated his donations and here was a free pen and bookmark for his trouble. The little gits room was almost bare because he didn't want material goods, unlike Anar's which was stuffed full of the most amazing collection of utter crap you ever laid eyes on. It was everywhere: plastic bits and bobs, tapes, comics, toys, gadgets, clothes he was too big for but couldn't bear to part with, tapes, rubbish he was too lazy to clean up, skateboards he had given up trying to use without breaking his neck, rollerblades that the same could be said of, kites that he'd not wrapped around trees, notebooks with badly drawn sketches of boobs and penises and no actual writing to speak of, pieces to board games that he'd been looking for and been unable to locate when needed, dice, batteries with no power left mixed with those that did so it took twenty minutes to go through them all for the umpteenth time before dropping them back on the floor so he'd have to do it all again next time, Pokemon cards that he never bothered with, piles of homework sheets that he'd brought home and promptly ignored and videos with tape spilling out rendering them unusable. Christmas was a time for adding to his pile and his list was always a mile long. Back when he was in favour with his father he would get all he desired. Now that he was a disappointment he was relying on Mortimer's ability to follow instructions to make this last christmas on the mortal plane worth enduring. It wasn't fair really; wasn't Anar's fault that he was naturally magic, he hadn't asked to have magic in his blood and would take it out if he could. He missed the feeling of being wanted and spoiled rotten. So what if he was on the Council of Sorcerer's 'most wanted' list? So what if crazy shit happened to him? That wasn't a good reason to kick your own son out and tell him he was only good for carrying the Warlock name into the underworld and nothing else. He couldn't be the only naturally magical person on the planet, right? There must be others. Bet they weren't made to feel like shit over something they had no control of. His ancestor wouldn't have stood for it, he looked like a total badass with his blue glowy orbs in his hands like some sort of aardvarkian Emperor Palpatine ready to zappy zap with lightning or some shit. Bet no one was embarrassed to have him around. Too scared probably. No one was afraid of him, just annoyed at his existence.

In the distance bells rung out from the village church tower. Bruno stirred, snuffling and murring on the pillow. In a way it was a small mercy that they wouldn't see each other again after this. Too much hassle trying to unpack his trauma onto the poor sod. He sure was cute though.

Mortimer called up the stairs to ask if the boys were awake and wanted breakfast. The answer was yes and yes. He was pulled down by a furry paw and for a few minutes they made out sloppily before pulling on bedclothes and dressing gowns to make their way downstairs to the parlour where the Christmas tree sat twinkling and presents lay waiting to be opened.

Gloria walked in carrying bacon sandwiches and gave them a funny sort of smile as they sat on the sofa together. She was easier to look at now her chest was hidden by a layer of wool. She handed them their breakfast and leaned towards Bruno's ear speaking softly in german. He grinned and nodded. Anar gave the dog boy some serious side eye and wondered if it had anything to do with last nights activities. His ears pricked uselessly - even if he could hear perfectly he couldn't understand.

The baroness wandered off again and Bruno turned to him and gave him a chummy nudge; "mein mutter found mein room empty this morning. She hopes we had fun," he laughed.

Anar's head spun. Aw shit no, last thing he needed was to be outed as fucking gay - bisexual whatever. He had no idea what uncle Mortimer's stance on that sort of thing was and he was in no hurry to be homeless.

He made to get up and move but Bruno stayed him with his paw looking concerned, "is ok? We haff not done wrong."

"Haven't done wrong? Are you shitting me mate? I only met you yesterday and your mum's found us in bed together. What if Monty loses it? He's the only nice person in my whole bloody family!"

"Nein, nein, is all good. Mein mutter she knows I like boys. Your uncle he knows I like boys. Is all good."

As if on cue he wandered in carrying coffee dressed in his silk nightshirt and old brown dressing gown taking his place on the larger seat by the fire and gesturing at the gifts, "well, what are you waiting for? Christmas? Open something Bruno."

Gloria took her place next to Mortimer and a very organised and unchaotic present giving commenced. Labels were read, thanks were given to the sender and sellotape was gently lifted. Back at home in past times it was a mad dash for the pile and mad ripping of paper to get to the shiny new items inside while everyone else looked on unphased. He'd find out who had given him what when the item finally got lost or broken and his mother would scold him as 'so and so bought you that!'

Among the distributed items were school textbooks, clothes, stationary, journals, planners, items of jewellery, mugs, wallets and purses, bottles of alcohol and fancy boxes of chocolates. But no SNES. Anar watched the last present unwrapped and tried to hide his disappointment. The Bogglin was awesome (it even glowed in the dark) and he could see Bruno eyeing it up but it hadn't been what he really wanted. A small part of him wanted to have a tantrum and another part was shrugging and telling him he deserved disappointment for being such a colossal failure to everyone around him.

"Oh! There's one more thing..." uncle Mortimer reached behind the sofa.

This was it! This was when he pulled a sneaky and a big square present was revealed containing the much awaited games system.

Anar was handed an oddly shaped gift. He turned it over in his hands. Nope. Not a SNES. It was light and squishy. Well, he'd open it and do his best to smile. What else could he do? Burst into tears? The paper fell away and a Doc Martens record bag was exposed. It was nice, very nice, very cool indeed but it couldn't play Super Mario World could it?

Uncle Mortimer cleared his throat and Anar shot him a glance, ready to say 'thank you', but he spoke, "that bag has been in the family safe for hundreds of years," he began, "like many things its appearance is very deceptive. Do not lose it, do not leave it out of your sight. It is exceptionally special."

Anar's jaw dropped slightly. Had the old coot lost it? Had he gone a bit fucking cuckoo? It was a brand spanking new bag with a modern branding.

"You're really going to sit there and give me that look after your plushie sprang to life and my horse started talking to you? Hmm?"

Well ok he had a point. "Fine, but like, what's so special about it?" he turned it over in his hands. All eyes were on The Bag now, all invested in the mystery.

"I don't know," Monty admitted, "no one does, because we're not true Warlocks but I'm eager for you to find out. It's a magical artefact written about in the Book of Warlock. Chapter eight I think, or that's what I remember grandfather saying. It was so long ago and even he only remembered a little of what was in the Book himself."

Was this really happening? Did he just casually speak about some of the weird stuff that Anar had spent so much emotional energy hiding away? He couldn't help himself, "what about the metal room? Did the Book say anything about that?"

Now it was Mortimer's turn to look shocked. "I... don't know," he paled, "I've never seen it for myself. I wouldn't look... there's a lot of dark events in our past after all. No one has ever mentioned it in living memory." He shifted on the seat and quickly changed the subject, "let's see what's on television eh?"

Power Rangers Christmas special was what was on television. Gloria sat and suffered through it as she picked through her box of chocolates and offered the boys the ones she didn't like. Bruno slyly crept closer to Anar on the sofa, his paw slipping behind his back. He didn't seem too bothered by the things Mortimer had said, if he even understood them at all. All he was interested in was Anar and as he pulled a knitted tartan blanket over them both his hands started wandering until the aardvark almost had to slap at him to stop before an embarrassing lump appeared in the fabric. He gave a scowl at the dog as if to say 'what do you think you're doing?' but Bruno pretended not to understand. He was good at that.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers all merged together to take down the bad guy's monster as they did every other episode and the credits ran. Anar picked up his new bag and had another good look at it; it really did just appear to be a regular record bag. Empty. What made it special? Why did it look new if it was hundreds of years old? Everything was a fucking mystery and just for once he'd like a straight answer. Like an instruction book or a care tag with 'Do not bleach, Do not iron, Do not tumble dry, Do not use to summon interdimensional portals. Danger of suffocation - do not give to babies or Kobolds under 36 months.' That sort of thing. He packed his newly opened gifts into it. They failed to disappear. Not even a funky glow or anything. Lame.

"Is ok?" Bruno asked, watching him closely.

"Sure. Is ok," Anar huffed, "I just wish sometimes I'd actually be told everything I need to know and not have to find out the hard way. I suppose that's what happens when all the people in the family who could explain stuff to me are dead."

"Like metal room?" he asked brightly.

"Like metal room," Anar replied darkly. It honestly looked like something straight out of Star Wars. All bright and shiny and metallic and as for those star charts, well, it did make him think maybe his ancestors were aliens or something. Aardvarks were rare enough; they could be travellers from the stars. Maybe the house was a disguised spaceship? No, that was bloody daft and he knew it. "Shall we bring Destroyer his mince pie before lunch?"

Bruno smiled and wagged his bushy brown tail beneath the blanket, "oh ja! We will haff fresh air."

Gloria insisted on them wrapping up in at least two jumpers and an assortment of scarves before allowing them to leave the front door to make their way to the stables. It wasn't all that cold, really, the bitter weather didn't start until January. Destroyer was happy to see them as Anar pushed open the huge barn door. The other regular horses neighed a little too and the boys gave them all an apple out of the fruit barrel and a rub on the nose. Being a working farm meant that even on Christmas day someone had been along to muck them out and break the ice on the water troughs. Anar never saw the same people twice, they were frequently swapped out as part of some community project or were students from the rural polytechnic. He didn't pay them much attention as he was a rather self-absorbed teenager just like everyone else his age.

The great black creature snaffled up the spiced pastry offering and smacked his fuzzy lips appreciatively. Bruno patted his neck softly, not so scared of him now.

Anar lit up a crafty cigarette from the half pack he'd snuck into his Adidas bottoms and leaned against the stable door casually. "So Des," he blew smoke from his nostrils, "you know anything about an ancient magical bag in the family?" He ignored the burning glare that the dog boy was giving him. Obviously from a non-smoking household.

"Hmmm," the nightmare rumbled thoughtfully, "it was all a very long time ago."

"Yeah yeah sure, but did my ancestors have a magic bag or not? Because ole Monty's given me one for Christmas saying it's a magical family heirloom and honestly I think he's gone crackers."

"What does it look like?" he asked.

Anar took another deep drag and sagged, "I don't think it helps, but it's a black record bag with Doc Martens written on it. You know, the shoe brand that the goths and rockers wear."

Destroyer gave him an eye roll; of course he had no idea what any of that meant. "Master Warlock did have a nice velvet drawstring bag that he took everywhere. I remember that it held more than he put in it. I never saw anyone else use it after him. But with all the fuss that followed it's difficult to guess its fate."

Ah yes - all the fuss... the nightmares were an ancient race who had been fiercely loyal to Anar's family. Once upon a time there had been many of the magical animals in the world but ever since his ancestors started causing trouble by fighting amongst themselves and trying to collapse the universe or some such nonsense the Warlock family had been put under magical sanctions by the Council of Sorcerers and they'd had the nightmares hunted down and destroyed. It seemed the idea of having a Warlock and nightmare together was a recipe for disaster. The Council sure were a bunch of killjoy bastards. Destroyer had probably told Anar more about his aardvarkian ancestors' history than Mortimer but even he only held fragments. The 'Master Warlock' he spoke of had been the original power-wielder, the general who had been stabbed all those hundreds of years ago. Destroyer had liked him a lot, he had been alright compared to his warring offspring. Anar was even named after him thanks to the tradition of using an ancient scroll to cycle through various titles. His father hadn't been happy about it apparently and had wanted to call him Damien. He shuddered at the thought.

So his gift held more than he put in it? So like Mary Poppins' bag then? Or a TARDIS? He'd try and see how much he could stuff into the rotten thing when they got back. Bruno thought the same thing, maybe his new bag was a bottomless one? But if so, why couldn't it be used by just anyone? How did magic affect it exactly?

"There was a portal!" Destroyer exclaimed. "Yes, I'm sure of it! There was a portal inside the bag. Only a Warlock can draw items from the bag because they all come from another part of space and time that's only accessible to someone with magical abilities." The nightmare swished his tail and looked very pleased with himself indeed.

"That's... amazing," Anar gasped, "I've actually had an answer to a question. Fucking awesome! Come on Des, anything else? Like what my family *really* did to get the Council pissed at them? Or what kind of artefact Master Warlock was stabbed with?"

The nightmare shook his head, "I wasn't there when that happened, sorry."

"Ah it was worth a try. Do you remember why the other nightmares were killed?"

Huge shoulders heaved in a shrug, "it's not like they told me before they slaughtered my brethren no. You could always ask them yourself," he growled, "all I know of the Council is they don't like natural magic users and want them all dead and what that has to do with us I don't know but they want all of us dead too. Lovely bunch of lads the Council of Sorcerers. Just be glad they haven't found either of us yet."

"Yeah. One good thing of going to the underworld I suppose. Still, merry Christmas eh?"

"Indeed."

Bruno chatted excitedly on the way back to the house, wanting to know about portals and velvet bags and magical ancestors.

"Look mate, I only know a bit more than you, yeah? My family hoards secrets like a dragon with gold. Why else would they write everything important down in a language no fucker can read?"

Bruno screwed his furry face, "mein English-"

"Isn't so great, yeah I know."

Bruno pulled him close, "you are sweet when angry, cute when cross. Lovely eyes."

"I'm trying to have an existential crisis here if you don't mind!"

But Bruno leaned in for a kiss and Anar allowed it. He needed a distraction from family bullshit and the Alsatian was ready to provide. The air grew bitterly cold around them but their embrace heated them up within, "come to bedroom, ja?" he pleaded softly.

"It's nearly lunchtime Bruno."

Big bright eyes blinked at him.

"Oh alright, but we'll have to be quick!"

They hurried to the parlour, gathered up their presents while the air filled with the aroma of cooking and the sound of giggling from the kitchen - the adults were having a good time, probably on the sherry already, and hastily made their way upstairs again to Bruno's room where they absently dumped everything and climbed on the bed together pulling scarves and jumpers off with purpose. After they had stripped and kissed the dog boy curled his paws around Anar's long slender ears and guided his head down between his fluffy thighs and onto his hard pink dick encouraging him to suck him off with panting whines and soft woofs, his tail thumping the mattress behind him to show his contentment. His hips bucked as he got close to climax, leaking into the aardvark's long mouth as it glided up and down his length, sitting up a little to reach round with a paw and finger Anar's tight asshole making him almost bite down from surprise. At least it wasn't his dick this time.

"Ja!" Bruno groaned loudly, "oh, oh ja, I'm cum."

The salty spurt filled Anar's mouth but it didn't seem so awful this time and the way Bruno was jerking his hips and grunting was doing a grand job of getting him off himself. He swallowed with an audible gulp and the finger withdrew from his ass slowly. This time he knew what he wanted, there was no hesitation as he climbed up the glossy soft coat and pressed his hard grey member into the dog boy's tight hole, inserting himself little by little to the Alsatians delight. It was snug and warm and pleasurable alright and he wanted to enjoy every second buried deep inside him. He panted as he felt his balls touch flesh; he didn't want to cum just yet, he wanted to respond to the natural urges that scratched at the back of his mind, to arch his back and thrust. It was not the most graceful movement to observe but he had to start somewhere and just going with what felt good was all he could do. Bruno closed his pretty green eyes and lolled his tongue, his body shifting beneath Anar's as his aardvark bed fellow tried to find some semblence of a rhythm before he blew his load and it was all over. Sex looked so easy on television; not that you could see much unless you stayed up late enough for Eurotrash. "I hope this feels good," he said through gritted teeth.

Bruno nodded and kneaded at his backside, helping him find a pace.

It was only for a few minutes but it was the most amazing few minutes of Anar's life so far - he actually did it! He actually fucked someone. He collapsed groaning as hot cum jetted out from his overstimulated cock and filled Bruno deep inside. Okay it wasn't a pony girl or, well, any girl but it still counted didn't it? He could tell Rap and Rave that he'd had sex and... they wouldn't care.

Bruno held him tight and kissed his snout, "you think much."

"I do," he replied, his voice a little muffled as he was buried in fur.

"All those mysteries, ja?"

"I guess."

"We should look at your bag. Find the magic."

Find the magic... yeah. He pushed himself up and pulled on his briefs, reaching for his new bag. It still had the presents in that he'd stuffed it with earlier. They hadn't gone in any portal. He emptied it and gave it a shake, even stuck his head in it. No portal. Bruno laughed at him and he whipped his head back out with a scowl, "sure, sure, you got any ideas?"

"Nein, but is very funni," he smirked.

Anar handed it to the dog boy, "you look at it. See if anything happens when someone non-magic handles it."

Bruno tipped it this way and that, stuck a paw in and waggled it about. "Nein," he shook his head, "nothing odd."

"This is ridiculous. It's just a bag. Maybe Monty was pulling my leg, you know, tricking me like fucking Jeremy Beadle."

Bruno frowned and tilted his head.

"Oh, just some guy on TV that pulls pranks for laughs. Never mind."

"Hmm, Mortimer never seems like pulling tricks."

"I guess not. Right, let's put as much as we possibly can into it, maybe then something will happen."

So they gathered all of Bruno's gifts too and tried to cram them into the record bag. It refused to close. The items failed to disappear or shrink. The bag just sat there overflowing. Anar gave it a kick for good measure, "stupid thing. Maybe it's like the Book? My magic's not strong enough for it to work?"

"I would like to see the Book," Bruno said while dressing, "there is lots I have not seen here."

"Sure. It's up on the next level. Follow me."

They trod the dusty carpet along the dim corridor; all the rooms here were neglected and mostly empty except for the ones Anar showed his friend. The first room they encountered had the door hanging half off and Anar shifted uncomfortably under the dog boy's accusing glare.

"What? Look I was in a bad mood and it was a locked door so I kicked it. Ok? Look inside and tell me it's not the wackiest shit you ever seen."

The fluffy head peered inside and then abruptly pulled back out, "metal room!" he exclaimed.

"Yup. Looks alien, right? Like X-Files or Star Trek? Nothing at all like the rest of the place. Go on, go in. There's star charts on the walls."

Bruno crept in, Anar followed. Looking around there were indeed constellations on the walls. A metal plinth stood next to a raised platform. Odd script covered the surfaces. "This is the same writing that's in the Book of Warlock," Anar explained. "No one can read it. No one knows what any of this does." He pushed buttons but nothing happened.

"Strange, very strange."

"Yup. Come next door."

This room was back to wallpaper and carpet but had a large painting hung on the wall. "That's my ancestor, the one Destroyer was talking about, Master Warlock. See the glowy blue orb thingy's? That's magic, that is. He was proper powerful. Not like me. I can't look at it too long or my eyes go funny and I start getting a headache."

Bruno looked at Anar with a flickering ear, "blue?" he asked, curiously.

"Yeah, see on his hands? Blue glowy orbs." he pointed to emphasise.

"Hunh. I don't see."

"What?" Anar stepped closer. He could see them. They were the only vibrant things about the old cracked picture. Maybe you had to have magic to see magic. He touched it with his finger and his hair puffed up with a static crack. He blinked, seeing double for a moment. Blue circles in front of his eyes. Stars flickering. An image of a dark planet with a dusty ring sitting on the edge of his mind, so close he could almost reach out and grab it. A dragon wearing... sunglasses? Then it was gone.

Great. More crazy shit. Like he needed another thing to not understand. Bruno shook his shoulder firmly, "you ok? You go funny but not haha funny."

"What?" he demanded, "what funny?"

"I don't know. Odd. You looked different person for a minute."

He briefly contemplated touching the peculiar canvas again but uncle Mortimer's voice calling them to Christmas dinner caused Bruno to pull him away. "But I haven't showed you the Book of Warlock yet!" he objected.

The dog boy frowned, "I do not like all this magic. It gives me bad feeling."

Anar's head cleared and he had to agree (as much as he didn't want to), the magic did leave him with a horrible sense of dread, almost as if he was being watched but he didn't know by whom. His paranoia immediately jumped to the Council of Sorcerers and they're intent to regulate all uses of magic. Anar couldn't be regulated but he could be terminated. It wasn't a nice thought. Maybe some mysteries were best left unsolved, or they would unravel themselves with time.

The table was filled with food when the boys finally arrived to eat, fully dressed once more and a little hungry after all the mornings excitements. They pulled crackers and wore silly paper crowns while telling the most awful jokes ever written. They ate until stuffed and then attempted to fit pudding in too all while Mortimer poured champagne and insisted the boys have some because it was Christmas and why not? Gloria pulled the turkey wishbone with Bruno and made a wish but couldn't tell as it then wouldn't come true, as was tradition. Then they all pushed themselves out from the table and lay on the sofas in front of the fire and tree lights and dozed lightly. Some things didn't change no matter where Christmas was this year. Even the Queen was talking to herself on the television.

Anar twitched and wriggled under the blanket as his head filled with strange thoughts and images -, a building in the underworld that was being struck by lightning while he was in it, a strong desire to call his cat forth from the astral plane, a large desert by the sea filled with unusual creatures who were nodding at him a lot and saluting as he told them things, a human woman with red hair and flashing eyes pulling him out of a burning ditch and into a helicopter and finally an overwhelming sense of sadness as he sat astride Destroyer watching the universe collapse. He woke with a start and nearly fell off the sofa. Everyone else was still dozing. He quietly made his way to Bruno's room and picked up his new bag; somehow, after having those weird dreams, he knew what to do with it. He emptied all the stuff that they'd managed to cram it with and dipped his hand inside the empty space, concentrating hard on the objects he wished to pull from it. Sure enough, he felt something hard and square in his grip. He smiled. It was a merry Christmas after all!

He carried his new goodies into his room and plugged them in. Super Mario World flashed onto his television screen accompanied by jolly music. He picked up the controller and began to play. So how about that, a portal in a bag? A point of access to another place in space and time that contained whatever you desired. It was the best present ever! And it personalised itself; changing appearance for whoever was using it. No wonder he had to look after it, it was literally irreplaceable. If he'd never touched the painting he'd never have had the knowledge of how it worked and if it wasn't for Bruno he wouldn't have touched the painting in the first place, what a stroke of luck to have had him say he couldn't see the magic on the canvas. He'd have to think of a way to thank him... that didn't involve sex this time.

After what seemed like five minutes but was probably more like two hours Bruno knocked on his door and ambled in, pointing at the SNES with disbelief. Anar explained about what had happened while he'd napped and how he now knew how The Bag worked. He gave a demonstration, pulling out a boxed Bogglin and handing it over to the dog boy who wagged his tail furiously and threw his arms around him gratefully.

"It's a time for giving, yeah? Happy Christmas."

"Oh, is wunderbah! Mein mutter will hate it so much," he grinned widely.

"Come and play!" Anar insisted, holding the second controller up, "it's bloody brilliant."

Bruno sat cross legged on the floor and fumbled with the buttons much to Anar's amusement but soon got the hang of what he was doing and they entertained themselves for the rest of the afternoon. Bruno announced that they would be going home in the morning and they only had one last night together and then that was it. Anar understood, all good things came to an end after all. Even the universe, it seemed. Though if that really was final, he wasn't convinced. Magic didn't want to be regulated or controlled, it was wild and chaotic and did as it jolly well pleased, he was proof enough of that himself. As long as there was magic then nothing was ever really over. Reality just changed. A new universe would begin or carry on where the old left off. That was his gut feeling anyway and it hadn't let him down yet.

Outside in the dark, snow began to swirl. It never snowed at Christmas. Maybe, just maybe, that was magic too. Bruno shifted closer to him and the game was forgotten as he leaned in for one more kiss. It really was the most wonderful time of the year, after all.