Fuel to the Fire

Writers: Devin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 1st January 2026

Characters: H'run, Z'kim
Description: Z'kim has someone he particularly wants to talk to at the Hatching Feast
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 15 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Th'reyos, L'keri, K'mai, I'serin, N'vanik

H'run

Z'kim

"H'run, darling! So good to see you again." Z'kim was doing a poor job of keeping the smirk off his face.

**Faranth save me.** H'run took a giant gulp of his wine and plastered what he hoped was an acceptably pleasant look on his face. The Dining Cavern still echoed with whispers about Z'kim and N'vanik's dance - and kiss - and the reverberation left H'run eviscerated and raw in a sea of mocking faces. "Well hello. Fabulous wine this evening, don't you think? And what a Hatching. I'm so pleased for Th'reyos."

"Mmm, Dragonsfall browns seem to be having a moment." Z'kim looked him over, noticing little signs of stress, and he _did_ feel a bit bad for the bluerider.

"I am _so_ pleased for L'keri as well. You are coming to that Hatching as well?" H'run babbled. "I miss my friends from Dolphin Cove. You really ought to come."

Z'kim shrugged a shoulder. "If it fits my schedule. So you did move back to Dragonsfall?" He leaned closer and said quietly. "Are you over K'mai, then? He _was_ the one who broke your heart, wasn't he?"

"I am back at Dragonsfall," H'run admitted.

"Even though he threw you over for the Weyrleader? Poor thing."

The bluerider stilled. So that secret wasn't a secret any longer. That, at least, was a relief - of a sort. "Poor _K'mai_, you mean."

"Just because I've got my claws in a bronzerider doesn't mean everyone can be so lucky." K'mai had asked him not to reveal his relationship with I'serin, but Z'kim had known about his crush for months now, so he decided that part didn't count. He looked over H'run again. "I really don't see the appeal, you're _so_ much better looking."

H'run snorted. "The second part I will agree with, but honestly a rotten log is more attractive than I'serin. The bar is not high. But I have to ask, what is N'vanik bribing you with to participate in this little bit of theatre he has going on?"

"Theatre? I suppose it was a bit of theatre until Nik decided to make things public." Maybe H'run hadn't seen their kiss. Maybe he thought that was a rumor. "It took him a while to wrestle with the idea of liking men. Well, me." Z'kim smiled.

H'run winked. "Sure he does." Because N'vanik was nothing if not a dramatic little attention whore like the rest of them.

Z'kim snorted. "I'd invite you to watch but I don't think he'd like that. If you don't believe me, go ask him."

The bluerider laughed even as the pit in his stomach yawned and ate him whole. "Oh my sweet, that might work on the unwashed masses but you need to try harder than that to fool _me_."

The idea that bronzeriders were only ever attracted to women had such a hold on people they would deny anything to the contrary, even if it was happening right in front of their faces. Z'kim looked H'run straight in the eye. "If you don't believe either of us, have Calcifeth ask Loseth."

"So _desperate_," H'run murmured. "What's your stake in all this?"

"Finally being able to brag about bedding a hot Weyrleader. Things have always been a little . . . complicated between us, but it was limited to flightrooms and dragonlust." Z'kim arched an eyebrow. "You might have been too wrapped up in your own drama to notice how _long_ he stayed in the flightroom with me, or that he brought Loseth all the way from Dolphin Cove. He asked me not to talk about it, but he _always_ went for a second round. _Always_. Then after that, poof, typical bronzerider, not interested in sex with me. But something changed earlier this Turn, and suddenly he was attracted to me _without_ the dragonlust, and it's been . . . mmm, glorious."

H'run blinked, feigning innocence. "Honestly, I _don't_ pay attention to how long people spend in the flight room with you. Do people actually do that?"

"They do when it's a bronzerider, and even moreso when it's the Dolphin Cove Weyrleader who was once upon a time transferred out for punching his Wingleader," Z'kim said. "Nik does tend to cause a stir wherever he goes."

"Does he?" H'run said with a negligent wave of his hand. "Nobody remembers anymore. That was _turns_ ago, love. Nobody cares. I suppose that's why N'vanik kissed you today, isn't it? He's desperate to cause a scene again. Reclaim his misspent youth. Older men get like that."

Z'kim was older than N'vanik so that was obviously a dig against him, too. H'run was the desperate one here, and Z'kim had to bite his tongue to keep from making a comment about K'mai and I'serin because _that_ would get too close to the truth. Instead, he laughed. "Oh, are you jealous? I know you don't want to believe it because . . ." Z'kim caught himself. "The thing is, two things can be true at the same time. Our dance was planned for the drama, him kissing me was a surprise. Because he decided he was ready for everyone to know."

"Such a dramatic hook, darling." H'run raised his glass in a small salute. "Well crafted."

Z'kim sighed and shook his head. "Oh, you poor thing. You poor, poor thing." Wrapping denial around himself like Threadfighting gear, as if that would protect him.

The bluerider stiffened, his smile flattened. "Me? Whyever would you say a thing like that? I'm _fine_."

"You're still nursing a broken heart. That's why I don't go in for that sort of thing," Z'kim said. "All that mess and pain, when you could just be having hot sex."

With the Weyrleader. Like K'mai and I'serin-- but that was impossible. Bronzeriders-- Weyrleaders-- didn't do that sort of thing. That sort of person. Z'kim's smug little face swum before his eyes and H'run's grip on his glass tightened into a white-knuckled life line. It was what K'mai had said to him. It was rejection all over again, not being good enough, not being-- _that_. "If that was really what you were after, you wouldn't be letting someone use you to further his own reputation. But go on, enjoy your Hatching day."

A surprised little laugh escaped the greenrider. "Darling, I've been keeping quiet for _his_ sake."

"Mmm. Speaking of enjoying one's self, I really do have others to see. Good bye." H'run turned on his heel and walked off through the crowd feeling as flayed as if he was naked in Threadfall. Snubbing Z'kim so obviously felt petty and small and so good, even as the world fizzled to black at the edges and the happy sounds of the crowd rang shrill in his ears.

Z'kim watched him go. Yes, he'd definitely hit a nerve, possibly several. And really, it wasn't very nice of Z'kim to be bragging about all the sex he was having with a Weyrleader when H'run had been dumped for one (well, something like that, anway). There was one brief, flickering moment where he considered going after him. But on the other hand, H'run liked drama just as much as the rest of them, and Z'kim had a whole room full of other people he needed to brag to.

Last updated on the January 16th 2026

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Fuel to the Fire