The usual disclaimers, Joss blah blah blah, Mutant Enemy blah blah blah.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my extended absence. It was really crappy of me to give the first chapter and then disappear. Like I said in my log, senior year was very trying and I didn't have much time to free write. But I do now, and that's all that matters. There is, hopefully, one redeeming factor. I have another year's worth of knowledge on writing, so it should be better. That's the hope, at least. :)

***

Day 2

It was such a wonderful dream, he just wasn't ready to leave. So why did he sense reality rushing in on him like a ton of bricks? "No... You can't make me..." Mal grunted sleepily, twitching his foot away to stop that awful tickling sensation. A giggle was the only thing that greeted his declaration, and the tickling returned to his foot.

"All right, that's it," he said, sitting up and opening his eyes, trying to blink the sleep out of them. When he could see clearly, he saw what had been causing that dratted tickle. The dratted tickler herself. "Yer in fer it now!" he grinned, grabbing River around the waist and pulling her over to get his much deserved tickley revenge. "That'll teach you to wake a man while he's sleepin'!"

River laughed wildly, squirming in his hold. "Is there any other way to wake a man?" she finally managed to gasp out.

Her question made Mal's still tickling hands pause and a frown crossed his face. "Well... he could have been... in a coma... or something... You just think you're so smart, don't you? Maybe I should start calling you miss Smartypants." he countered feebly. It was too early to be thinking right now. Mal gave a groan and rubbed the back of his neck. "There any particular reason you were wakin' me up? Or were you just bein' spiteful?" he asked.

"Hmm..." she replied, tilting her head to the side as if this was taking a lot of thought to answer. Mal just rolled his eyes and waited for the answer that was bound to bubble forth at any moment. "