Kirk wasn't really surprised to find Spock was the person at his door. It usually tended to be his first officer's job to collect him for various duties.
Spock nodded his head slightly in greeting, "Captain, I wish to speak with you regarding our meeting tonight."
Jim motioned him inside and replied, "What about it?"
"May I inquire as to the purpose of the bridge crew meeting?"
Jim smirked at him as he found a clean work out shirt and changed into it. "Ever heard the phrase 'Misery loves company'?"
"Captain…"
"Call me Jim, Spock. It's not as though you weren't in my mind earlier today."
There was a soft sound that seemed to be the Vulcan version of an exasperated sigh. "Jim, it is 1950 hours. We should depart."
"See? Was that so hard?"
Arching his eyebrow in a way that Jim had long ago decided was the Vulcan equivalent of a human eyeroll, Spock followed Kirk to the ship's recreation area.
All of the remaining bridge crew were already present, and when the captain arrived he noted the wary glances.
Herb, the ship's recreation officer, showed them to a private room that contained a number of comfortable chairs and a large table. Jim sat down at it and gestured for everyone one else to do the same. It was dead silent until Jim began to speak.
"Today we all went through a very traumatic event. The psychic attack we went through was pretty much a mental rape, forcing us to experience our darkest memories. It is our CMO's professional opinion that none of us should be on duty tomorrow, and we should be spending the next few days in session with the ship's counselor."
Noting mentally that no one seemed thrilled with the concept, Jim was glad to see the recreation officer enter with a number of containers from the strictly controlled alcohol.
Kirk grinned and grabbed the nearest bottle. "Personally I'd rather drown our sorrows the old fashioned way. If you would feel better talking about this morning while doing so, feel free. If not, know that you're off duty tomorrow and that Dr. McCoy has already agreed to allow us some hypos to treat hangovers, which he almost never does. Get stinkin' drunk if you'd like."
With that, he poured a shot of vodka, downed it and prepared another.
Spock was giving him a stoic look that Jim had come to recognize as exasperated before stating, "Captain, Vulcan physiology is not affected by alcohol."
Jim gave him a look as though he had just suggested that Vulcans had five heads.
After a slight pause, he managed, "How do you get sloshed then?"
"I don't." was the reply.
Uhura laughed and began mixing her own approximation of some alien drink that was bright orange. Smirking at her ex-boyfriend, she turned to Herb and whispered to him. A few minutes later, the recreation officer returned with a bottle of chocolate liqueur.
With Spock glaring daggers at her, Uhura handed the bottle to their captain with a wicked grin. "Vulcans react in a very similar way to Terran chocolate."
Jim grinned and began considering all the ways he could use this knowledge. If he had his way, there would be a large triple chocolate cake at every ship party until their tour was complete.
Giving Uhura his most charming smile, Kirk gushed with "I love you Nyota. Marry me and have a dozen beautiful children?"
It earned him a derisive snort and rolled eyes. "There's not enough alcohol in the universe, Captain."
"It's Jim for the rest of tonight, and that goes for everyone in this room. Every time someone calls me 'Captain', I'm gonna make you take a shot of something alcoholic but foul tasting. Got it?"
His bridge crew began grabbing drinks and finding seats at the table. Of course it was Spock who had to point out the obvious.
"Capt..Jim, as senior officer I must point out that Ensign Chekov is not of legal age to consume alcoholic beverages." This earned him looks that could kill from both Chekov and Sulu.
Kirk regarded the younger man thoughtfully for a moment. "Ensign, do you drink?"
Chekov nodded. "Since I was thirteen, Kep… Jim, sir."
"Promise not to give yourself alcohol poisoning?"
"Yes, Keptain… I mean, Jim!"
Kirk grinned and handed him a shot glass full of something neon green. "Too late! I heard that, so drink up!"
The next two hours passed quickly. Jim regaled them with stories of various bar brawls he was in during his misspent youth. Uhura began a discussion on various alien races and the various words they used to describe levels of intoxication and Sulu and Chekov started a debate on artificial intelligence. Spock mostly sat and glared at the various glasses of chocolate that Uhura and Kirk pressed upon him, which he tried to sip very little of.
It was Chekov who changed the entire mood of the gathering.
Later, Jim thought he should have realized that their youngest officer had the most potential to be an emotional drunk.