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Paul closes up the office and heads to the bar, arriving just a few moments ahead of Burt. He sits down and orders their usual light beers and basket of hot wings with extra blue cheese, glad he got there early enough to claim a seat with a great view of the television for when the Monday Night Football game starts.
The beers arrive just a few seconds before Burt, and Paul greets him with a nod. “Have a good Thanksgiving, Burt?”
“Sure did,” Burt says, settling into his stool. “Sorry for running late. The new kid’s just not as fast as I’m used to.”
Paul nods soberly, hiding his amusement like he always does. The ‘new kid’ has been working for Burt since Kurt left for New York, but Paul’s sure he’s never going to be anything but the ‘new kid’ in Burt’s mind. “No problem,” Paul assures him. “No problems with your flights? I saw on the news some of the airports out west, at least, had a lot of problems.”
Burt chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s flights you wanna talk about now? Seriously, Paul?”
Paul raises his beer slightly and takes a sip. “I’m just being polite, Burt,” he says, slowly grinning.
“Screw polite, we all saw it on TV,” Burt says. “D’you talk to him? What’d he say?”
“We texted,” Paul says. “I don’t think they intended to be on television, though!”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Burt says. “Dave doing okay with the attention?”
“It’s taken them a little while to figure out exactly who they were, thanks to the crowd and the angle they were at, so that helps,” Paul says, nodding his thanks when the bartender sets down the basket of hot wings. “I expect it’ll get worse before it gets better though. Everyone on his team knew already, at least.”
“No issue with the coaches?”
Paul shakes his head. “David had mentioned over the summer that he was pretty sure all the coaches knew, except maybe for the head coach. Georgia Tech likes to be seen as different from other schools with FBS football, so I think institutionally, he’ll be fine.”
Burt nods as he takes another sip of his beer. “That’s good. That’s real good to hear. It’s good there’s schools taking that kind of approach. From what Finn says about UW, I think it’d be similar up there, if they had a player in the same situation.”
“It’s good to see positive changes in that area,” Paul agrees. “I don’t think that David’s quite who some of these groups would have chosen for a posterboy, though!” He chuckles for a moment. “I’ve looked at a few opinions and I think some people wanted someone a little more interested in activism.”
“I can understand that not being his thing,” Burt says. “Not everybody’s like Kurt, making speeches and stuff like that.”
“But maybe someone a little more interested will follow behind,” Paul says, nodding. “And I think interest’ll die back down before next season, for David.”
“Probably so,” Burt agrees. “It’s nice to see it turning out well for the both of them, though. Rough road for everybody.”
“It is,” Paul says, smiling. “Almost makes me wish I could go back and reassure them, you know? Tell ’em that it’ll all work out, that they just have to hang in there.”
“I know just what you mean,” Burt says. “At least we know the hard part’s behind ’em all now.”
Paul nods. “Exactly. I’ve always thought, you know. I will have done okay if I can see David is happy and fulfilled. I admit it would have been nice if it’d been a little closer, though!” He laughs for a moment. “But now I just have an excuse to travel.”