I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the meeting in Alexander's room had played out differently. What if the timing would have been off just a little and Hephaestion walked in on something completely different than him reading a letter from his Mother. Let's pretend the letter is already read and he is now in the bath Bagoas had prepared for him.

Oh boy, this is going to get interesting!

The Argument

Hephaestion stepped out of his bath and dried himself off. The warm water had relaxed him and left him feeling hot in all the right places. He knew where to go to cool off those right places. He slipped on his silk pants and ran a brush through his long hair. The robe he put on, and the pants, had been a gift from Alexander and he suddenly remembered he had not thanked him properly for them. A smile graced his beautiful face with thoughts of just how to insure that Alexander knew the full extent of his gratitude.

As he left his room, he reached for the wine pitcher and a glass.

Alexander was not in his bed when he arrived but Hephaestion could hear his voice and followed it. When he finally saw Alexander, he stopped quickly and sucked in his breath. Alexander was taking his bath now, but he was not alone in the tub.

Bagoas was sitting in the warm water too and was straddling the King. Alexander's eyes were closed and he was moaning softly as Bagoas was slowly and very seductively washing his chest, enjoying himself way too much. They both were, as far as Hephaestion was concerned.

He slammed the pitcher down with a bang and turned to leave the room. Alexander turned in time to see him start to leave. The weight of the young eunuch, which a few moments ago was light, suddenly felt like a ton and he couldn't get it off of him soon enough. He finally got to his feet and stepped out of the tub, dropping Bagaos unceremoniously in his tush. Alexander grabbed his pants and tried to pull them on as he hurried to follow Hephaestion. The pants met the wet skin and refused to budge. After several attempts and a couple of ungraceful trip, he managed to cover at least a little of his modesty and his behind.

By this time, Hephaestion had started to make his way back to his rooms but stopped after a moments pause. He decided he had had enough…no more…if Alexander no longer needed him, then he no longer needed Alexander. Enough was enough!

Hearing the other Generals voices in the harem, he turned to go down the steps to give them the good news. He knew they would be overjoyed when he told them his plans.

Beautiful men and women were draped around, over and under the generals as they lounged on the pillows. Soft music was being played nearby and a lot of groping and foundling was happening. To put it bluntly, a good time was being had by all. Life in Alexander's Army was very good at the moment.

One of the generals looked up and saw the vision of Hephaestion drift down the steps towards them. More general eyes soon followed. He had on a silk robe and pants, the color of which only enhanced his eyes even more. The robe was open at the front revealing a strong chest that narrowed as it went to his waist. His hair blew back from his face as he walked and he held a glass of wine in his hands as he came towards them. He wore nothing on his feet; in fact, the robe and silk pants was the only thing gracing his body, a fact made quite evident by the way the front of the pants fell into place. They hid little, because what they covered was not little to begin with.

As he made his way to them, they all became mesmerized by what they were seeing. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw the King come flying down the same steps Hephaestion had just descended, but not even half as gracefully.

Hephaestion stopped in front to them and raised his glass.

"I wanted to let you know that all of your dreams are about to come true."

Several dreams popped into their heads, most of them naughty.

"I am leav…"

He didn't finish his sentence because the King had finally caught up with him and his mouth covered Hephaestion's midsentence.

The mouth pulled back and Hephaestion again began to speak, "I'm leav…"

The mouth again stopped the words from coming out.

Hephaestion's arms remained at his side and he showed no reaction at all to being attacked.

After the mouth stopped its' assault, Hephaestion turned and started to make his way back up the steps. Alexander started to follow but yelled over his shoulder, "No he isn't!" then hurried to catch up with him.

Hephaestion went up the steps and Alexander tried to get to him but the robe he had so lovingly bought for Hephaestion was in his way and try as he might, he couldn't get around it to reach his angry lover. He stepped on it and almost pulled Hephaestion down the steps. Hephaestion very calmly pulled it off and let it drop behind him as he continued up the steps. After untangling himself from the yards of material, Alexander stepped up, missed the step and tripped again. Cussing and snorting while trying to rub his shin, he made a mad dash to find his elusive general.

The generals had witnessed all of this and after the two had disappeared at the top of the steps, made a mad exodus up the same steps to follow.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this?" said one of them.

"Are you kidding, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Hephaestion had made his way to his rooms and slammed the door behind him as he went in. The door hadn't quite closed and had come back open enough to hit Alexander as he plowed into the room. His nose now began to swell along with his shin.

"Hephaestion."

No answer.

"You aren't leaving, I won't let you."

A glare followed by, "Try and stop me."

Alexander grabbed Hephaestion from behind and held on as if his life depended on it, because in his mind, it did.

While Hephaestion started to pack his bag to go, Alexander followed behind him, never loosening his firm grip, dragging him along as he went. By this time, they had an unseen audience of several generals and various servants. Neither seemed to notice.

Muttering 'sweet nothings' and 'I'm sorry', Alexander kissed Hephaestion neck and hair and anything else he could reach from where he was behind him. Releasing him just enough to get around to the front of Hephaestion, Alexander continued his attack from the front and smothered him with kisses. Hephaestion stood very still and still did not acknowledge him in any way. Even as hands drifted to his bottom and began playing, Hephaestion stood his ground and refused to relent.

Alexander was getting desperate. He knew he had to do something fast or he was going to regret it the rest of his life. He threw all of his pride to the wind and got on his hands and knees in front of Hephaestion and pleaded with him to stay with him and not to leave. His head was directly in Hephaestion's crotch and his pleading were beginning to take affect.

Actually, Hephaestion had decided to stay quite a while ago but wasn't about to tell Alexander that just yet. He was going to milk this for all it was worth.

The silk pants drifted down the long legs and down the wonderful thighs, leaving Hephaestion in all his wondrous glory. Alexander decided to take things in hand, or mouth, and see if he could handle things from down where he was.

He did, very well in fact. But Hephaestion still wasn't done with him. There was a lesson to be learned here and Hephaestion decided he was just the teacher to do it.

He slipped away from Alexander while he was trying to catch his breath and returned to packing his things.

Alexander winched as he tried to rise on his bruised leg and came up behind him again. He rubbed his now swollen appendage against Hephaestion and started promising him anything to get him to reconsider. Hephaestion smiled but Alexander didn't see it, but the rest of the audience did. By this time, Alexander wasn't the only one with painful swelling. As Alexander's hands began exploring again, many others groped their way into their loincloths too. Little did Alexander and Hephaestion know the orgy they were creating?

Skilled hands soon had Hephaestion resting his head on Alexander's' shoulders and his neck smothered in kisses and nibbles. Alexander's damp pants didn't slip off quite as easily as Hephaestion had trailed down his silky legs, but they soon were in a puddle on the floor.

Oil, fingers and numerous moans later, the two men leaned against each other trying to get the roaring out of their ears and come back down to earth again. It was a good thing too, because then they didn't hear the moans coming from the hallway and adjoining rooms.

"By the gods…" said Alexander.

"I'll second that." Said the first man who was able to speak in the hallway.

"Am I forgiven, Hephaestion?"

"Not quite." Said Hephaestion with a gleam in his eye. "Lie down and spread your legs."

Several mouths formed a perfect 'O' in the hallway and the appendages attached to them said the same thing.

An hour later, as Alexander and his Hephaestion lie tangled in each other's arms sleeping soundly, a group of generals made their way back towards the harem. When they figured out where they were headed, they stopped and turned to go to their rooms.

The trill of the harem had lost some of its excitement and they decided they needed to rest for a while before they paid another visit to its pleasures.

Hephaestion was right about one thing though, they did have sweet dreams.

And Hephaestion smiled to himself for several days afterwards whenever he saw Alexander's bruises until they healed.