"Hmmm," Kirk mumbled.
"Commander Kirk, this is Ensign Xex from the bridge."
Kirk struggled to open his eyes. He found himself on the couch in his living quarters. Apparently, he had been too tired to make it all the way to bed. Mentally, he fought the barely functioning muscles in his arms until he was sitting up. Wearily, he looked at the clock. He had gotten just under four hours of sleep. He closed his eyes again and tapped his comm badge. "Yeah."
"Commander?" The young voice of Ensign Xex asked. Xex was one of many third shift personnel Stephen hadn't met yet, so he couldn't put a face to the voice.
"Yeah," he repeated in a gravelly voice.
"Commander, I have Admiral Leonard on a priority one channel. He says he needs to speak with you and the command crew immediately."
With that proclomation, the events of yesterday came flying back from the dream he was hoping they were into a reality he wasn't sure he wanted to face again. "Okay," he managed to say through a yawn. "okay... get T'Nia, Richards and Kelly and have them meet me in the conference room. I'll be there in just a second."
"Understood, Sir."
"Kirk out." He tapped his comm badge again, then attempted to move his left leg off the couch. He didn't realize how close to the edge of the couch he already was. With the shift in his weight, Stephen completely slid off the couch to the floor, banging his knee on the coffee table. In his daze, he didn't even yell out in pain. He simply stated "Ow."
Staggering to his feet, he stumbled to his bathroom and looked in the mirror. His uniform was a wrinkled mess. He stared at his closet for a moment, considering changing clothes, then opted against it. Instead, he just pulled firmly on his uniform top until most of the major wrinkles were gone. Stephen then noticed his hair was a mess. Rather than officially wash it, he turned on the water in his sink until the basin was mostly full. He then proceded to dunk his head in the water, lift it back out, then run his fingers through his short, brown hair. Looking at the wetness of the top of his uniform, he decided he really didn't care.
As he left the bathroom and headed towards the door, he snapped his fingers, and then called out, "Computer... I need a breath mint."