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Just 4 hours ago, the ship had been racked with a widespread red alert.
Kirk sighed as he sat back into the cushions, closing his eyes with a hum as he listened to his two partners argue about nothing in particular. It had been a rough day on the enterprise. an alien ship had mistaken them for an enemy, attacking without thinking. Fortunately, there were only a few minor injuries, and they were able to negotiate. Usually, when something like this happens, Starfleet recommends everyone to go rest in their quarters immediately. But this ship never liked following the rules anyway.
He sat next to his bridge crew in one of the ships lounges, it was smaller than the main one, no bar or tables, but one large conversation pit and a big window into space, where he and the rest of the bridge had collapsed about 2 hours ago. slowly, the rest of his crewmen had followed, sitting on the floor covered in cushions and blankets as they talked.
He came back to reality as he heard McCoy speak
"You hobgoblin, of course i!- what the?-" Kirk opened his eyes to see bones staring down at something - someone! Ensign Walters was leaning on his leg, knocked out. Kirk recognized her from the engineering room that morning- running around the room with a toolbox, making quick repairs to the giant contraption that was their warp core, as the crew was initially preparing to run. He watched as mccoy's face went from annoyance and surprise to full doctor mode as he quickly leaned down and grabbed her shoulders
"Ensign! Can you hear me?" He shook her firmly, moving a hand out to hold her head up before pausing as she opened her eyes.
"wha?- Oh, sorry, doctor, I must have fallen asleep."
Kirk had to cover his mouth so he wouldn't laugh as McCoy's face went from worry to exasperation as she yawned.
he wasn't laughing anymore as he looked up into the rest of the pit.
he saw the entire crew, fast asleep on the cushions. How he hadn't noticed this before he had no idea. He stared in shock at the scene. A couple scientists were snoring softly underneath a mountain of blankets. He saw his security guards huddled together in a pile, next to them, was a medic snoring away, an engineer knocked out on his lap.
"What the- are all my crewmen passed out?" He put a hand to his forehead
McCoy pinched the bridge of his nose "oh of course, this is what happens when I tell them to get proper rest!"
from Kirk's left, spock put a hand to his chin. "Sleeping in an inproper area like this will not give them a full rest. they should go back to their quarters immediately."
Bones sighed, folding his arms as he sat back. "This isn't going to be my problem. Captain, you handle them, please."
Kirk looked to the other bridge crew for help, to find them staring back at him in confusion
"Well.....they are your crew laddie"
"Have some pity on them captain....look at those poor things, worked to exhaustion" Uhura put her hand to her heart as she surveyed her poor communications team, who were in another pile, snoring loudly with dark eyebags. They definitely deserved rest, he thought as his mind flashed to this morning, they had been the ones who had to figure out the aliens language before they blew up the ship. He remembered the stacks upon stacks of pads on the table as they talked over each other, suggesting the best way to communicate to the strangers.
They all deserved rest, Kirk thought as he surveyed the unusual view. A strange spark of pride bloomed in his chest as he stared at his men and women, shuffled in awkward sleeping positions with drool leaking down their mouths.
He sat up, taking a deep breath
"Alright, everyone, back to your quarters for a good night's rest, captain's orders!"
He could barely keep his face stern and serious as a couple of groans erupted from the pile as they slowly started to wake up.
"Come on, up up! Gomez, I see you! don't try to hide under the blanket- Musa, stop groaning, your quarters is just down the hall!"
He didn't notice his friends behind him, snickering quietly to each other as they watched him trip over cushions as he helped the crew out of their piles and blankets.
The crew started to wake up fully, now starting to regather their surroundings, but unconscious enough to protest. Uhura was the first one to burst out laughing
"noooo, let me go back to sleeppp"
"I was so comfyyy,"
"Five more minutes, captainnnn."
If anything about this wasn't starfleet regulation, this was definitely it. Kirk didn't bother scolding them for talking back, as he stared at the yawns and fists sleepily rubbing eyes
Uhura chimed in. "Come on, you can come back tomorrow afternoon when you're all well rested."
An engineer sat up and turned to Uhura with half lidded eyes
"Sing us something first...please"
Her eyes widened for a second, not quite sure what to say. She looked around and noticed the quiet pleading eyes of the rest of the crew. She laughed and raised an eyebrow at the small crowd
"You all want me to sing you a lullaby?"
The crew erupted into soft pleas and nods. Tired eyes looking at her expectantly in a way she just couldn't refuse
"Oh, well....if your captain allows, I suppose I could sing a little something...spock?"
There was a rush of silence as the room turned to look at the vulcan, holding out to see if he would find it illogical or have mercy on them and agree. After a few seconds, he spoke
"....I suppose if the captain allows it, I would be adequate to play my lyre in accompaniment."
the room erupted into cheers as they all settled down into the array of cushions, pillows and blankets
Kirk laughed "hey!- you guys didn't even let me make a decision first,"
"apologies captain, I assumed you would understand the benefits of this, as it would help them sleep in their own quarters."
a couple of 'oooooos' and giggles erupted from the group as Kirk gawked at him
"Well.....only if they go to bed right after, then it should be okay" he put his hands up in defeat, crossing his arms as he sat back into the cushion, smiling softly as McCoy chuckled beside him
He watched as Spock and Uhura adjusted themselves and started playing a soft melody. He looked upon his crew, watching their faces as they smiled gently, leaning onto each other with pleased faces, an occasional yawn coming from them.
The stars behind them lit up the dim room as the music guided them back to sleep