A/N: This is Part III in the series.

The party guests had all left.

Some responsible ones had made a polite departure, while a few less responsible guests made a hasty retreat. Hephaestion had all of the clean-up done and finally felt somewhat human again. He made a mental note to check the guest list next time, though.

Oh, wait, there wouldn't be another party like this – not if he had anything to say about it.

He even felt a little hungry, a thought that only a few hours ago would have meant certain disaster.

Harboring a better outlook on today, he decided to take the bull by the horns and venture out into the world again. It would be better if someone could make yesterday so that it had not happened – or, at least ensure amnesia had hit a few minds in his painful absence.

Throwing his shoulders back and holding his head high, he made his way out to get something to eat. He silently gave his tummy a stern warning to behave itself. The last thing he wanted today was another embarrassing moment. There was way too much of that going around already.

The usual chatter and laughter in the dining hall ended the minute he entered.

Every pair of eyes were glued on him. The silence was deafing.

Hephaestion made his way to Alexander's couch. Seemingly out of nowhere, a stool – the stool! – appeared for him to sit on.

And so it begins, he thought.

Alexander asked how he was feeling, the smile he was trying to hide barely concealing itself. Hephaestion replied very politely that he was feeling much better, thank you.

In short order, a few snickers broke out. One very large goblet of wine appeared in front of him. His tummy, trying very hard to behave, lurched and did a complete somersault.

Hephaestion moved the nauseating wine further away from himself and swallowed very hard.

Conversation resumed all over the hall, and to his relief, Hephaestion was thinking maybe this would not be as bad as he thought.

Just as he was beginning to relax, he started picking up pieces of several conversations around him – easy enough to do since they were said in a level loud enough for him to hear...

"...someone was wondering how many STEPS it would take to complete a task..."

"...it was a long CLIMB up the stairs..."

"...how hard it was to GET DOWN off a horse..."

"...we must conquer our FEAR OF HEIGHTS..."

"...how to BALANCE all that had to be done..."

"...the PLATFORM should be done soon..."

Alexander's smile had changed to a girlish giggle and threatened to become a full-blown laugh. He had his hand firmly planted over his mouth and could not look at Hephaestion, for fear of losing it completely.

Things were getting out of hand quickly and Hephaestion decided to take control of the situation. He was not going down without a fight.

All his life, he had been told how beautiful he was and he had never used it to get ahead, no matter what anyone had thought. Two could play at this game (or however many he was playing against). Whatever rules might have existed before were now thrown out the door.

Amid laughter, taunting and teasing, Hephaestion arose very gracefully from his stool. He gave Alexander a groin-twitching smile, tossed his head back just enough to let his long hair sway and walked seductively towards Cleitus.

The level of laughter lessened, giving way to disquieting stares.

Hephaestion grabbed ahold of Cleitus' shoulders and swung himself around to sit on his lap, making sure his chiton rode up high on his muscular thighs. Putting one hand on the back of Cleitus' head and the other on his cheek, he leaned in and softly nibbled his lower lip.

Only a nervous giggle could be heard in the room now...

When Hephaestion heard Cleitus moan, he went in for the kill. He captured Cleitus' mouth full on the lips, kissing him hard and long, using his tongue to create new and exciting pleasures that he was sure Cleitus had never felt before. Cleitus' toes were curling and he could not stop groaning. But just when he thought he would die a happy man, Hephaestion stopped.

Hephaestion quietly rose and turned in Alexander's direction, a satisfied expression on his face. Winking seductively, he then strode out of the hall.

The silence he left behind in the room was deafening.

Alexander got up swiftly and hurried after Hephaestion – and after a few moments, remembered to breathe.