AN: I read somewhere a long time ago that the reason that Achilles was able to pull of being the king of Skyros' daughter in order to be protected from the Trojan War until he revealed himself was because he was slight and delicate in body. I realized today that the reason Alexander might have looked up to him and took his name as a nickname was because he himself was much the same. And I wanted to write something based on that idea, and this came out of it. Enjoy!

AN: Alexander is 14-15 here, or at least that's how old I imagined him to be. And "Kleo" refers to Kleopatra, Alexander's sister.

Alexander grinned in the mirror, twirling to see how the lavender dress he had taken from Kleo's rooms looked on him from all angles, admiring the fabric. It was so pretty.

Running his fingers through a pleat in the dress and teasing his long hair in the mirror (his mother refused to cut it, saying she loved every little curl, but he had to admit it looked good with the dress), he failed to notice Hephaestion standing just in his room's doorway looking confused until it was too late.

"Phai!" He squeaked and spun to face the other boy, suddenly very aware of his body and the dress.

"Xan- What are you doing?" Hephaestion came further into the room, his steps cautious and his expression still so confused as he looked his friend in the eye.

"I-um-I-" Alexander tried, then blurted, "Achilles did it!" while rushing over to his bed where his copy of the tale lay abandoned, but clearly open.

Hephaestion nodded slowly, his expression unchanging, "I know. He did. At Skyros. At his mother's insistence. What does that have to do with this?"

Alexander blushed and bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, suddenly wanting the dress off, "I-I just wanted to see how it felt…to wear one… I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Terrified now because Hephaestion had not replied, he attempted to make it better, "I will take it off right now! I will never do it again, I swear! I'm so sorry!"

"Xander," this time, Hephaestion's voice was much calmer, cutting through Alexander's panicked rambling. Alexander looked up at him fearfully, his mismatched eyes wide and teary, "You are exploring, yes? There is nothing wrong with that. I am sorry that I made you feel like there was. It is beautiful on you."

"Really?" His voice was tiny.

"Really," then came the knowing smirk, and a tease, "That's Kleo's dress, isn't it? Xander, how could you, stealing her things!"

Alexander protested frantically, "I'm just borrowing it, I'm going to put it back! I swear!" Then, as Alexander put his hands on his hips because of Hephaestion's teasing, Hephaestion began to laugh outright, "Stop being mean!" And the last thing Hephaestion was aware of as he left the room was the sound of an indignant pout from his friend and prince. It only served to make him laugh harder.