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Hephaistion was angry. Even more so because he was not supposed to be angry.
Half a week had passed since those dogs had confronted him outside the Stoà, and the young master had done his fair deal of thinking. The way he'd allowed Alexander – that name was stored in his memory and wouldn't go away – to play him around like a bloody toy was just ridiculous, not to mention unlike him. What would his scholars say if they knew how weak their mentor had been?
The golden-furred dog had insulted the gods and offended Hephaistion himself, letting out those lewd comments on his looks and making stupid innuendos. And the wise Athenian, usually so keen on debates, had been unable of uttering more than few, vain syllables. Such incapability of reaction was what aggravated him the most; Hephaistion had gone over the matter again and again, eventually giving in and settling for pretending like nothing had happened.
All unresolved issues, however, threatened to come out on the morning Alexander showed up again – by himself, yet not harmless in the least.
There was, Alexander considered while walking around the Garden, an unquestionable benefit in spending your life roaming with no purpose nor ID: one could even be prince and nobody would have a clue.
Except, of course, for the guards your father appointed to tail you and keep you safe, as King Philip had so brilliantly put it.
Truth be told, Alexander was no longer prince, since he'd stepped out of the throne after his parents had ordered him to join the army in some Persian quest. Plus, Philip was not really renowned for his faithfulness and monogamy: one random bastard could easily inherit the royal title without any counsellor doing so much as batting an eyelid in protest. All the better for General Antipater, whose grandson was to become king while his own descendant, Cassander, escorted the legitimate prince throughout Greece to make sure he would never consider returning home. Such a picture suited everyone just fine, with the remarkable exception of Queen Olympia; then again, the woman was notoriously nuts.
Honestly, a cynic spirit was all that kept you going these days.
Alexander stopped in front of the entry, quickly coming down from his reverie. Inside that temple – during his stay in Athens, he'd heard people call it stoà, even if no garden was seen from the lobby – were raised those little self-righteous bastards who would grow up despising any other way of living. Worst of all, their bigotry was due to the so-called Wisemen of the town, who seemed to think of their holier-than-thou shit as the best guideline for a perfectly happy – just not too happy, though – lifetime.
The former prince smirked. He was going to show those prigs the bloody time of their life, alright.
With hindsight, he should have seen it coming. It was just too peaceful, having his regular lesson with his regular scholars on a regular sunny morning.
The yells reached them even before the boy on guard did.
A manly voice, loud as a shotgun, came from the hallway, alongside with lower tunes Hephaistion recognized as quite familiar, though he couldn't exactly put his finger on them. The youths gathered in meditation were startled by the turmoil, and looked up at their master with questioning eyes.
Philotas seemed on the verge of speaking. Hephaistion had had enough.
"Nary a word, boy. Keep quiet. I will handle it." Then he was off, pacing heavily on the floor as to announce his coming.
Everything became perfectly clear at once. The wet, bare silhouette on the front door, surrounded by several preceptors and prevented from stepping in by a number of watchmen, was quite the meaningful elucidation itself.
There Alexander was, water dripping from his hair and running down his toned chest. His eyes were sparkling with fierceness, while a somewhat vicious smile arched the corner of his lips: "Well, what's the matter? Don't tell me a bunch of sensible and more than civilized Athenians can't face one soaked and nude barbarian?!"
When an old Wiseman launched himself forward in reply, Hephaistion realized who the voices he'd heard belonged to. Some of the educators who were currently about to jump at the blonde stray's throat had helped the young master join the Stoà to begin with, and were renowned as unflustered men.
"I strongly advise you against talking like that in a place where you do not belong, nor will ever be accepted. Have you not caused enough fuss by coming to our town and flaunt your inadequate behaviour for everyone to see?"
Flaunting indeed, Hephaistion mentally agreed with old Parmenion. His gaze averted purposefully the foreigner's nakedness, but he couldn't stop a light blush from spreading on his cheeks in reaction.
"Inadequate, you say?" For a moment, Alexander seemed to be considering it. "Oh, I get it. Then I'm probably being even more disgraceful now, am I not? After all, barging in uninvited, without bothering to knock, dress up nor get dry… how terribly rude of me!"
The blonde's eyes scanned the little crowd, apparently in search for something. Which he must have found, since his smile brightened up considerably: "Then I guess you should punish me, mh?"
"Enough!" One of Hephaistion's dearest colleagues, Craterus, gestured for the guards to move and took the intruder by the arm himself, shaking it imperiously. "Such an attitude will not be tolerated any longer. Although you and the dogs of your likes are constantly trying to corrupt our youths, punishment of all sorts is banned from this Garden of peace, just as all kind of nuisance is. It is in order to stay true to our beliefs that we are letting you get away unharmed. Surely you are smart enough to leave right away and never come back, I reckon."
Laughter erupted in response. Alexander pushed Craterus away, still dripping water on the finely patterned floor. "You think my people have corrupted your youths?! Gods, this sounds old!"
By the time he spoke again, his stare had fixed so intently on Hephaistion there was little doubt who was he referring to: "Not that I blame you guys for this; old is what you are. Except…"
The young master clenched his jaw. He was well aware of the looks the others were sending him, and felt a hot wave of self-consciousness arise.
It was gone in no time. Had he not scolded himself for being weak when he'd first met those damned doggish boys? No way he was going to step back from the lad again. In fact, he moved to approach Alexander, his chin lifted in pride.
Whatever the blonde had meant to say never had the chance to leave his lips. A tall, dark-haired man, dressed in a peculiar nomad outfit (his cloak was wrapped carelessly around his shoulders and middle, thus replacing the average chiton) crossed the threshold in a hurry, stopping dead in motion at the sight before him.
"There you are! We've been searching for you every-fucking-where!"
His gaze became more inquisitive. Then he smirked: "Been bathing at the hot springs again, have you?" Without waiting for an answer, he stripped of his vest and lent it to the blonde youth – who made no effort to take it. Hephaistion watched in disbelief as the stranger sighed with irritation yet gently draped the cloak about the other's shoulders.
"It was not my intention to have you fawn over me like madmen." Alexander replied in a bitter, lazy tone. "I just took quite a liking to this place."
His companion's hands rested on his forearms, then proceeded to stroke their way down softly. Black eyes shined with malice as the journey went on, towards the blonde's lower regions. "Quite a liking indeed, I dare say!"
Neither Hephaistion nor his elders missed the hinting, and were pretty grateful when Alexander took hold on the mantle to cover up his nude half-mast. The youngest preceptor wrinkled his nose: was it just him, or had the blonde-head been staring an awful lot? Bloody exhibitionist was putting on quite a show already; what with that new guy, anyway…?
"Get your hands off me, Cleitus. You're giving the poor old things a heart attack, here."
Cleitus obediently withdrew and made way for the other to exit. Hephaistion was still dumbstruck with such submissive manners when he caught Alexander stare and found out he couldn't look away.
Golden brown eyes met ocean green ones in the oddest dance: hot and challenging, the former, cautious and proud, the latter. Their fight became so apparent no one cared to interfere.
The tension eventually broke, as the blonde stray bowed mockingly before his audience and finally turned to leave: "It was my honour and pleasure to spend some time with you gentlemen!"
"All you shall do to retain your honour is keeping away from our people and take better care of yourself," Parmenion uttered.
"That I shall, ye old man!" Alexander merrily obliged, whilst letting go of his cloak to reveal just the right bits of skin. He let his eyes wander briefly for the last time.
"As for you, my beautiful… you will come to me when you're ready."
Hephaistion had to elaborate quickly. The last thing he wanted was for that bastard to toy him around in front of all other Wisemen: "I suggest you hold not your breath!"
Alexander's barking laughter punched him right in the face as the young man went out, and wouldn't leave him alone for a long time.
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Thanks to Nerdvi for reviewing *w* this chapter's online because of your encouragement.