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Everybody knew who Alexandros Kallis was; the only son and heir to the Kallis fortune, he was also the school's undisputed leader. His mother was a hysterical, controlling bitch whom, rumor had it, once worked as a snake handler in a circus sideshow and his father was said to be high up in the military command but in the secret divisions, the ones that weren't even on the accounting books. They knew that Alex liked his women dark-haired and fiery (like his mother, rumor said), and that he would use his fists as easily as words if necessary. They knew he liked wearing shorts and was the best wrestler on the team, that he had his own horse whom nobody else could ride.
What they didn't know was that he was fucking his best friend.
Stolen kisses between classes and long, lazy kisses after class, rolling around on Alex's bed and sleeping together in the garden, out under the stars. When the ants crawled on Alex's tanned arm, it was Dion's hand that brushed them away. His name was Hephestion, and it was his name that had brought them together. How could the two boys not be the closest of friends when their namesakes had been friends and more? History repeated itself and it was through history that they found the true depth of their bond.
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"This book says that Alexander and Hephestion were gay," Dion says, and for all that his voice is casual, it is a gambit that he has planned out carefully. They're getting their history project ready. It's based on their namesakes, obvious a choice as it is. Alex is drawing up a map of all the territories that Alexander the Great conquered and Dion is in charge of researching the military maneuvers that were used to claim said territories.
"So what?" Alex flood fills a section of the screen with green. The glow of the monitor is eerie against his tanned skin, the boy looking the very definition of the blue-eyed blond All-American athlete. He belongs to the sunshine and the sky, not the computer and the schoolroom. Dion, dark-haired and dark-eyed, is swarthier than Alex but smarter too. He's planned this conversation out as meticulously as Hephestion, millennia ago, planned his military campaigns.
"So you think we should mention it in our presentation?" Casual, casual, so very casual. Dion isn't going to act like anything's riding on Alex's answer except their grade. He knows Alex isn't homophobic, he's tested him out on that by bringing up gay celebrities and gay-bashing and seeing how Alex reacts (amusement and annoyance at the lack of tolerance, nothing that indicates either way if Alex is gay or just open-minded).
"It's not relevant." Alex isn't looking at him but Dion can't stop watching Alex surreptitiously. Eighty percent of any conversation is non-verbal and he's been watching Alex all year, he can understand Alex's body language better than he can understand anyone else's words.
"It is if he only trusted Hephaestion to be his commander because he was fucking him." Dion counters, paging through the book and hoping the sound of pages turning will disguise the pounding of his heart.
Alex shrugs, and now, Dion can tell that Alex is avoiding looking at him. "Probably was the other way around. Alexander fucked Hephaestion because he trusted him."
"Yeah?" The sound is non-committal but Dion's mouth is painfully dry. "They didn't have the same taboo against gays back then. It's not like anyone would've cared."
"Diogenes of Sinope complained that Alexander was 'ruled by Hephaestion's thighs'." Alex takes his gaze away from the screen and meets Dion's. His smirk is so familiar and his words so unexpected that Dion's mind short-circuits for a moment, unable to find anything for him to say.
"Dion. If you want me, do something already instead of hiding behind history." Alex keeps speaking and Dion thinks it's quite possible that his mind will never work properly again. It doesn't matter. It takes no thought to crawl over to Alex and rise on his knees, tilt his face up and use a handful of Alex's hair to pull Alex's face down until their mouths meet in a kiss that is as glorious as it is strangely familiar.
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Everybody knew who Dion Karayoniss was; best friend to Alexandros Kallis, leader of the Model UN club, the darker shadow to the school's golden boy. They defined him not by his own virtues (intelligence, loyalty, diplomacy) but by his unwavering place at Alex's side. They knew nothing about him, nothing about his family or his fears or his history. All they knew was that where Alex was, Dion would be.
They knew nothing of him and because of that, because they knew nothing about the boy who was Alex's other half, they knew nothing of who Alex truly was.
They didn't know the most important thing about Alex: he loved his best friend and always had, ever since the first time they'd met back in Greece, years (millennia) ago.