Loving Kit

Halor held out his hand for Kit, who climbed onto the sofa, squeezing in between them. "Each of us has the capacity to love, not just one other but many—our parents, our siblings, or most of them, anyway, our friends and our lovers. If Kit were to fall in love with you, it would not mean he loved me any less. Likewise, if you were to come to care for me, it doesn't stop you from developing feelings for Kit, as well."

"You believe it's possible for three people to all be in love with each other at once?" Logan asked. He had heard of such relationships between humans, though he had never met anyone who was in such a ménage.

"I have seen it many times," Halor said. "My people, as you'll have heard, have nests. Mine, until now, has been comprised of myself and Kit alone, but most of my kind have much larger nests. My father's nest has seven women in it plus two men. My mother is the queen. If she were any species other than a hawk herself, she would have the role of Prime Beak, but as she's a hawk, too, she takes the title of queen. My father loves all of them—or he claims he does, at least—but the larger the nest, the more risk there is that one or more of the members will be neglected in favour of another. I don't wish anyone in my nest to feel they've been put aside while another takes their place. Nests that grow too fast fall apart as the occupants fight for the attention of the owner. I don't want that. I love Kit and he is my Prime Beak, but that doesn't mean I can't love another, as well."

Logan nodded. "What did your brother mean about felines being Prime Beaks?"

Halor snorted. "My brother believes in the purity of the nest hierarchy. Hawks at the top, lesser birds below, and other species at the bottom."

"And felines below that," Kit added. "Whores are generally ranked lowest in a nest."

"I guess there aren't many feline Prime Beaks, then?" Logan guessed.

"None," Kit confirmed.

"One," Halor amended as he stroked Kit's fur. "In this nest, all are equal, but when we're on Hawkri, there are, unfortunately, formalities that we have to adhere to. No matter who joins this nest, whether it's you, Logan, or even another hawk, Kit will always be Prime Beak. This nest will never include someone who won't accept that. Can you live with a feline outranking you in the eyes of my people?"

Logan nodded. "I would never want to come between you and Kit."

"You wouldn't be," Kit said. "You'd simply be joining us. I don't understand all the avian hierarchy myself, but I can promise that if you do join us, we'd all be equals, just like Halor said. It might not seem so to outsiders, but I would be Prime Beak only in name."

"You might think that, but I believe Halor would disagree."

Halor smiled. "I'd like us to be on an equal footing, too. It might not work here on my planet, where the nest hierarchy is so ingrained within my people, but off-world, our nest is our own concern and each of us deserves to be equally loved by the others."

"That sounds good to me," Logan said.

"Then you'll consider staying with us?" Kit asked. "Because we really want you to." Kit slipped out of Halor's embrace and knelt between Logan's legs once more.