As usual, I own nothing related to the movie, the characters, etc. I would love to have Hephaestion for myself, but somehow doubt Alexander would be willing to share. :)
(sort of takes place after the events of Ebb & Flow)
Hephaestion is overworked. Alexander decides to give him a break.
(Yes, I know I like to write about an overworked, stressed Hephaestion. It's fun to find solutions to his problems).
Hephaestion leaned back in his chair and casually tossed a wadded parchment across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed next to the rest of the papers he had wadded up and tossed.
Paperwork. Gods, did it never end? Maps, inventories, troop census, correspondence…the list went on. He was surrounded by stacks of things awaiting his attention.
He looked around the room, wondering what would happen if he "accidentally" knocked over a brazier and burned up all these papers. Hmmm…an appealing thought.
Chuckling at his own silliness, he picked up a stylus and began working on the map he had been drawing up for Alexander's latest project. He had docks and shipyards to design, a city wall to build, letters he needed to write, plus he had really wanted to write to Aristotle if he could find the time to do it.
After a while, he stood up and stretched, deciding to take a short break. A little wine sounded good, so he poured himself a cup and took a drink, enjoying the feeling of warmth as he swallowed it down. He leaned his back against the wall, closed his eyes and sighed.
His door suddenly flew open, and he didn't even need to open his eyes to know who it was. No one else would have come in without knocking or being announced.
Alexander breezed into the room, feeling great and in the best of moods. Everything was going well here in Patala. The work on the docks was well under way, he had the locals under control, and the army was resting and stocking up on supplies. Hephaestion, as always, had been doing an outstanding job. He dropped down into Hephaestion's chair and pushed around the papers on his desk.
"You work entirely too hard, Hephaestion."
Hephaestion rubbed the back of his neck and squeezed his eyes shut. "Alexander, I'm only doing the things that YOU wanted me to do!"
Alexander frowned. Was he really such a slave driver? He took note of stressed expression on Hephaestion's face and felt a little guilty. He stepped towards him and reached out his arms.
Hephaestion stepped forward and allowed Alexander to pull him into an embrace, releasing a deep breath and dropping his head to Alexander's shoulder.
Alexander ran his hands over Hephaestion's back and gently rubbed his neck and shoulders. He could feel the tension in the muscles as they bunched under his fingers. There was no doubt Hephaestion needed a break.
Suddenly a slow smile spread across his face.
He stepped back slightly, holding Hephaestion at arms' length and smiling at him. "Hephaestion! I've got a great idea!"
Hephaestion groaned inwardly. This could not be good. "And what, pray tell, is this idea of yours?"
Alexander released him and dropped down into the chair again, leaning back and propping his feet up on the desk. "I am giving you a day off! You're working too hard. You take a day for yourself to do whatever you want, and I'll handle all this stuff for you!"
Hephaestion shook his head quickly. "No, Alexander. That's very kind of you, but I'll be fine. I've got everything under control here, despite how it looks" he waved his hand at the mound of paperwork on his desk. He didn't want to say it, but he knew that Alexander had no idea what he was about to take on.
"Come on, Hephaestion! Don't you think you need a day of rest? You've been at it non-stop since we arrived here, and you're way ahead of the schedule I had set for the construction projects." He cocked his head and studied Hephaestion briefly, noting the exhausted slump of his shoulders. "I can tell you're worn out. How can you be at your best when you're obviously exhausted?"
Hephaestion sighed. There was no denying that he was burning the candle at both ends, but he had to stay on top of things and was not very good at backing off once he had his mind set on a job. "I am tired, Alexander, but really…I'm fine. Things are going well, and I want to keep it that way."
Alexander pulled his feet off the desk and sat up straight, looking at Hephaestion sternly. "Hephaestion, don't make me pull rank on you."
Hephaestion dropped his head with a deep sigh. There was no winning this battle. "Yes, my King. What are my orders?" He was resigned to whatever Alexander would have him do, but was also being a bit sarcastic.
Alexander caught the sarcasm but let it go. He spoke again with authority. "Your orders, General Amyntoros, are to take tomorrow off. You are not to touch any paperwork. You are not to try to supervise any of the construction. You are not to do anything in relation to our work here. You are to sleep late if you want, hide out in your room if you want, take a ride out of the city if you want…whatever you want to do that does NOT involve work." He smiled. "I don't care what you do, Hephaestion, as long as you don't do any work."
Hephaestion took a deep breath and released it slowly. "As you wish, my King."
Alexander grinned happily. "I'll take care of everything, Hephaestion! You'll see!"
Hephaestion had a really bad feeling about this.
