Notes: So, this is not the beginning of another story arc. This stands alone. There may or may not be more stand-alones in this weird bear!Burt universe...
Summary: Finn is not a bear-racist...
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Finn Hudson was not a racist. He was cool with people of all religions, all colours, and all accents. He was a pretty accepting guy all told. Sure, Kurt Hummel made him kind of uncomfortable but that was only because it was painfully obvious (even to him) that Kurt kinda liked him in a way that was more than friendly and Finn totally didn't swing that way. Finn wasn't a homophobe - he'd feel the same about any unattractive girl with a huge unrequited crush on him... And, yeah, that sounded bad. But if it weren't for that crush he'd be totally cool with the guy.
And he'd be totally cool with the guy's dad too. Had been, actually. Until today.
More specifically, until about two seconds ago today.
"What!" Finn stared at his mother, uncomprehending. "But..."
"Burt Hummel is a very nice man," Carole said, looking uncomfortable at her son's sudden outburst. "We have a lot in common."
"He's a bear!" Finn protested. "How can you... Why would you...?"
Visions of his mother going on dates with the furry quadropedal mechanic started flying through his mind. Carole sitting opposite Burt in an icecream parlour, Carole holding hands (paws?) with Burt at the movies - aisle seating of course, because there's no way a bear would be comfortable right in the middle - Kissing Burt...
"Ugh," Finn closed his eyes and physically reeled away. "That's just... gross."
"Finn!" Carole was glaring at him now, hands on her hips. "I expected better from you! Burt is a nice, honest, caring man – "
"Bear," Finn interrupted his mother pointedly.
"A caring man," Carole countered. "Who has had to deal with a lot of prejudice in his life just for being who he is."
"You can't date him!" The look on his mother's face made Finn cringe just a little.
"I'm going to make this very clear," she said, in a tone that left no room for argument, "I am not asking for your permission. I will be seeing Burt whether you like it or not, and all I ask is that you keep your opinions to yourself and try to be nice to the man."
Finn didn't correct her this time. He had a feeling it would only get him deeper into trouble. "Fine."
"Good," Carole said. She let her hands fall from her hips and informed her son; "We're going to dinner with Burt and his son tomorrow, and I'll be expecting you to behave."
Finn spent the next day at school avoiding his friends on the football team just on the off chance that between today and yesterday afternoon one of them might have found out that his mother was dating a bear. Worse - the bear who also happened to be Kurt Hummel's father. That was a double dose of social suicide right there and Finn was already hanging on by a thread.
He was quiet during glee, avoided Kurt's attempts to gain his attention (presumably to talk about their parents), and sulked his way through their songs. It must have showed more than he thought because Mr. Schuester pulled him aside at the end of practice.
"Finn," Mr. Schue started, a concerned look on his face, "you know if there's anything bothering you that you can talk to me, or Miss Pillsbury..."
Finn made an effort to smile at the man (secretly wishing that his mom was dating Mr. Schuester, because that would have been cool and not... weird). "Everything's cool, Mr. Schuester."
"Ok," Will said dubiously, "but just remember that I'm here for you."
"I will," Finn said, then changed his mind to "I do". He left before he got too tempted to blurt out his issues - he didn't want Mr. Schue to think badly of him, he doubted that the Spanish teacher had ever had any issues to do with bear racism before.
He refused to respond to his mother past monosyllables while getting ready for the big dinner and thought rebelliously about wearing old jeans and his rattiest (if most comfortable) sweatshirt. In the end he decided that rebellion wasn't worth having to live with his mother's glare and changed into a more respectable outfit. He sulked in the passenger seat all the way to the restaurant and sulked some more when they got inside and it turned out that the Hummels were already waiting in a booth.
Finn tried to ignore the furtive looks being directed their way. He tried not to imagine the kind of gossip going on around them as his mother slid into the booth across from Burt and reached out to touch his paw. The bear smiled at her, and Kurt smiled at Finn, and Finn pouted at the table.
Finn was doing a pretty good job of ignoring the entire situation until it came time to order. Hearing the growl of Burt Hummel's voice - speaking Bearglish, which was pretty easy to understand when you knew what to listen for - hit it home to him again. He was sitting in a restaurant with his mother, a bear, and a gay dude.
It was like the beginning of a very bad joke.
'You know,' Burt said (in a mess of growls that the tables surrounding them pretended not to be listening to) when the waiter left, 'I understand how hard this must be for you, Finn.'
"Really?" Finn asked, and suffered a kick under the table from his mother for the doubt in his voice. "Because I don't think you do."
"Ok," Kurt said brightly, with an obvious attempt to change the subject, "why don't we talk about something more pleasant. Carole's new wardrobe for example, like the way that cornflower blue compliments her skin tone perfectly."
'Your mom dating a new guy,' Burt continued regardless, 'especially a guy like me.'
"Dad"/"Burt", both Kurt and Carole protested at the same time, but the bear held up a paw to stop them from continuing.
'I know what kids are like, I know it's going to be tough. But I think Carole would agree that if my race is something you just can't deal with then maybe it's better we call things off now.'
"What?" Finn asked, startled. He looked at his mother, who suddenly looked as if she were trying very hard to keep a neutral expression and not look upset. "No. I don't mean..."
'Look,' Burt said plainly, 'when your mom and I started seeing each other we both agreed that our kids come first. So if you're really not comfortable with this...'
Finn looked between his mother and Kurt's dad. His mother's face had begun to turn blotchy, which was always a sure sign that she was upset. The bear's expression was harder to read, given that Finn wasn't used to interpreting the limited range of expressions available to bears past Sue Sylvester's constant smugness or rage. He could see Kurt from the corner of his eye, the other boy looking the exact same way he did before being tossed into a dumpster or verbally harassed.
"No," Finn said finally, feeling ashamed of himself and his little white lie. "I don't want you guys to break up. It's just going to take some getting used to for me, that's all."
'That's ok. We can deal with that.'
"We can," Carole agreed, a hopeful smile on her lips. "We'll just take things slow and let you boys get to know each other."
The table fell into silence for a moment or two, and Finn poked at his dinner to avoid eye contact with anyone. Burt was the one who broke the silence first, casual, like he was pretending the last conversation hadn't happened. 'So, Finn... You're playing basketball now?'