Author's Note: This, like Only Human – if you've even read that, heh – was written for a 15minuteficlet challenge community I belong to; the word for this week was, remarkably, discombobulate! O.O Tough word… anyway, this is named after the amazing Chemical Brothers song, which featured in 'An Intern's Guide To The Galaxy' XD Oh… and like with my main story, no spoilers beyond '11.07: White Guy, Dark Hair' – I'm in England… damn… hopefully I'll add a new piece/chapter to this with every new word until I feel it's done :) Enjoy!

PART ONE: WHERE DO I BEGIN?

Glancing almost stealthily around the corner, he ducked back into the supply cupboard, biting his lip for a moment. He suddenly wasn't sure about this whole plan of his; about two hours ago, when it hadn't been near the time for asking, it had seemed like a great idea. One of his better ones, in fact… but now, he just wasn't sure it would work, at all.

When he saw her go past, he cursed for nearly missing her, and slipped out – almost literally, annoyingly – to walk behind her. "Hey," he said casually, noticing she wasn't walking with any particular urgency. Either she had no patients, or she was taking her sweet time. He voted for the former, given that the latter wasn't her style.

"Hi," she replied after a moment or two, looking to him almost sceptically as he came up beside her properly. Her brown eyes narrowed partially, before she inquired, "What're you after?"

He opened his mouth in an offended manner, laughing quietly, saying, "Why have I always got to be after something when I come over and say 'hey'?" Frowning slightly, he added, "I'm a little offended…"

Rolling her eyes, Abby Lockhart sighed. "I didn't mean it that way; you just usually come to me for favours, if the nurses say no."

Ray Barnett stopped dead in his tracks for a moment, discombobulated, and furrowed his brow heavily; he didn't like the way that sounded. "No I don't," he said feebly, before giving chase, forced to jog in order to catch up; now she wanted to speed things up. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"A favour?"

"No," he objected, realising afterwards that she was teasing him. His shoulders slumped slightly. Maybe this was a bad idea…

"I'm sorry, Ray; what was it?"

Dodging around a 'parked' gurney, only just managing to avoid stubbing his toe in his sneaker, he said, "Would you stand still for five minutes, Lockhart? You're makin' it kinda hard to ask anything."

With that, she turned flat on her heel in the corridor, almost causing him to crash straight into her, biting off another curse in surprise. "Jeez…" He blinked. "That was fast."

She shrugged, waiting.

Ray looked at her, mind terrifyingly blank all of a sudden. What had he wanted to ask her again…?

"Well…?"

Her slow question pulled him out of his mild panic, and he gave his head a shake, his confident face slightly off-kilter it seemed.

Perfect… and just when I need it most.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tomorrow night."

Oh, smooth…

Abby quirked a brow, either surprised or amused; whichever it was, he couldn't tell straight away, and swallowed dryly, his throat parched all of a sudden. He didn't like the wait; the wait was uncomfortable and awkward.

"… What for?"

"What?" He laughed. "What do you mean 'what for'?"

Abby blinked. "I mean… the last time you offered to buy me dinner, you'd acted like a jerk about one of your patients. Did you do it again without my noticing…?"

Ray's shoulders slumped again, and he almost slapped his palm to his face in defeat. But he wouldn't be dejected; he had to persist. That was the key. "No, this is different," he said to her plainly. "This is a genuine offer…"

"Sincere?" she asked teasingly, earning herself another frowning glare. "Sorry… carry on…"

"Well… genuine offer; no pressure. Just dinner." He let out a breath, nervous on the inside; he wasn't accustomed to feeling nervous, and he was pretty sure he didn't like it. It made him feel unsure of himself, and he was so used to feeling and acting confident that it threw him off balance.

"Maybe a movie?"

Ray blinked in surprise, looking down at Abby with slightly widened green eyes. "P-pardon?"

"I said, maybe a movie?" She shrugged. "Y'know, like, afterwards, or something."

A very slight smile turned up one corner of Ray's mouth, and he resisted the urge to chuckle. He nodded, but then became wary. "Really?"

Abby smiled in return, though a little more openly than her companion. "Sure. Why not? If you're not trying to win me over for doing something wrong, then…"

He laughed quietly that time, nodding. "All right. Cool."

Cool? Ugh… moron.

She laughed as well, subtle but certain. "Okay. Let me know when and where." With that, she turned on her heel with another nod to him, and carried on her way, looking down at a chart she had been holding in her hand all along.

Ray stood in the middle of the corridor for a while, nonchalant and casual, before a stupid grin broke out on his face, and he did chuckle. Nodding to himself, he turned to head back in the other direction, ignoring the gurney he'd nearly fallen over in the first place, as he muttered to himself, "… Cool."

To Be Continued