Rayburn sat down at the Burtrom family table trying to figure out what the _hell_ was going on.

It was dark in the room, the only thing brightening up the setting was the flickering fire of a candle (which was enclosed inside of a glass case, no doubt for Rayburn’s sake) even though Rayburn knew that the Burtroms had well enough power flowing in from the nearest city to have working lights.

What was even stranger though was the decorations hanging everywhere in the dining room. They were flowery—_was it someone’s birthday today; that couldn’t be right_—and a handsome, dark shade of wine. Someone coughed and Rayburn turned to the source to see Oswald sitting across from him at the small table. Oswald was wearing a crisp, black two piece and seemed at be looking at Rayburn very intently.

Rayburn squinted. Had he missed something?

He himself was dressed in a button up shirt and some loose trousers, both, even though being fitted and sized for all his clothes, were rather too big for his boney frame.

“Glad you could make it, Ray,” Oswald said appreciatively against the quiet of the room. He met Rayburn’s gaze for a quick few before his light brown face turned ruddy and bashful.

Bashful? Was this really _Oswald_ before him? Rayburn felt angry at that moment. He really didn’t know what was going on, and not knowing things in situations really tore a hole in his pride. Oswald, knowing him for ten years, knew this the of course, so was this a sick joke? What was he missing?

“Well,” muttered Rayburn as he frowned at his recent thoughts, “I had no choice but to because Penelope and Charles seemed quite intent for dragging me here if I didn’t come myself. So what’s this about anyway?”

Oswald blinked slowly. “Wait, you don’t know what’s going on?”

What kind of—

“Well f course I don’t know what’s going on!” Rayburn huffed and pushed back against his chair. “Would you care to tell me, Oswald?”

Oswald smiled at that, then, after a moment, laughed full heartedly, wheezing when all his breath left him. Rayburn stood watching this, still confused as ever.

“Oh, Ray! I love you so much, you know that, but you really are slow.”

“Am I?” Rayburn frowned, but his anger left him as Oswald came over to gather him in his arms.

Oswald rubbed Rayburn’s back. “Yes, yes you are,” he pulled away and asked, “You want to know what this is—or what it was supposed to be?”

Rayburn nodded, peering at the decorations around them again. He saw Penelope and Charles come out from the kitchen, dressed up as much as Oswald but looking like waiters.

“THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DATE, YOU IDIOT!” Penelope stomped off upstairs. “I wore this stupid dress for NOTHING!”

Charles giggled at the sight but shut up as Penelope threw a nasty glare at him.

Rayburn felt utterly dumb at that moment. “Ah,” was all he could get out.

Oswald, who was in much better condition then his siblings, grinned. “We can try again later, maybe no surprises, yes?”

Penelope huffed. “Or maybe Rayburn can stop being so stupid all the time.”

***

_(Yay! More LIAST stuff. These make me feel better about life. Ahahaha….we’re still on the road._

_Thanks for reading and have a great day!)_