Bad Hair Day

Author's note: So, as a few of you may know, I am totally in love with Chekov. He's just so cute (in mannerisms and in appearance)! And not to mention I totally want to run my fingers through that fluffy hair that he'd had in his earlier appearances… *sigh.*

Anyways, please enjoy this random little idea of mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

0600 hours is not a good time to start Alpha Shift.

Most people just accuse me of not being a morning person or a late riser when I say this. Hikaru loves to tease me about it, as a matter of fact. Easy for him to say! He could wake up at 0400 hours every morning and be totally happy!

Me? I like to sleep in. Then I'll have enough energy to last through my day. Hypothetically, I'd also be less groggy when I do wake up, but that is unfortunately only hypothetical. Maybe Hikaru's right. Maybe I am a morning person. What, many people in Russia are!

But since being stationed on the Enterprise, winning the Captain and Mr. Spock's approval, and as a result being promoted to Alpha Shift navigator fairly quickly, I have had to wake up remarkably early every day Alpha Shift has been scheduled. It's downright annoying, and I often embarrass myself. One morning, I'd walked onto the bridge still in my pajamas. Once, my clothes were inside out and very rumpled. The most dangerous time was when I stumbled into the bridge, very groggy, and immediately went back to sleep as soon as I reached the navigation consul. Everyone laughed until McCoy realized I'd suffered a minor concussion.

In other words, whenever Alpha Shift is that early, bad things happen to me. Embarrassing things.

But worst of all was that one time…

As soon as my alarm clock started beeping, my fist was already fumbling around on my bedside table, attempting to hit the snooze button as fast as possible.

I hated my alarm clock. Supposedly, it was a valuable antique from the 21st century, but I didn't see the real value in it. Hikaru had gotten it for me as a 'Welcome-to-Alpha-Shift' gift. My main problems with it were that it wasn't Russian, it awoke me very rudely every morning, and that I couldn't get rid of it without Hikaru saying I hurt his feelings. Trust me, I know from experience. I've tried to rid myself of it several times.

After several more minutes of attempting to hit the snooze button without getting out of my comfortable bed, I finally dragged myself off the bed and opened my eyes so that I could see the alarm clock. It was then that I slammed my fist onto the snooze button and quiet reigned in my quarters once more. It was also then that instead of getting back to bed, I realized that it was 0545 hours. In other words, I had 0015 hours before shift started. I had to start getting ready.

Blearily, I pulled off my pajamas, changed into my uniform, pulled on my shoes, brushed my teeth, splashed my face with water (to wake me up, though it mainly just got in my eyes) and tripped my way into the turbolift. En route, I somehow managed to snag a sustenance bar from the nearby mess hall. I knew I was missing something, but didn't know what.

After the short ride to the bridge, I lurched out of the turbolift, weakly greeted everyone, and finally plopped into my seat. Because I really had nothing to do, I looked around at the other members of the Alpha Shift, whom I'd begun to consider family. The Captain was sipping his coffee as though he had not just been rudely awakened, like I had. I really pitied him. He chose to use a klaxon to wake himself up. Then there was Spock, unflappable as usual. Lucky duck. He needed less sleep. I could see Uhura had dark circles under her eyes, but otherwise seemed okay. I even heard her humming from where I was. Looking at her again, I realized that she seemed to look oddly pleased with herself. How… odd.

Then again, Hikaru also had dark circles under his eyes and looked oddly pleased with himself. Could've meant anything, and I wasn't about to pry.

And then I realized something: the yeoman that was now taking the Captain's empty coffee cup was giggling. And she was looking at me.

Turning around, I realized that Spock had an eyebrow quirked upwards like he so often did. And he was also looking at me. Did I have something on my face?

Then I heard laughter. It was Hikaru and a few of the low-ranking engineers making repairs. This was weird.

"Keptin, vhat ees ze meaneeng of zis?" I asked, flinching at my accent. Once a lieutenant had asked me if I spoke English when I had been talking to her for the past five minutes in what I had assumed was perfect English.

By now, the Captain seemed to be trying hard not to laugh.

"May I borrow a mirror, anyone?" he asked. Uhura nodded, giggling herself when she got a look at me, and pulled out her hand mirror. Nodding, the Captain walked over and held it up to my face. I instantly noticed that there was nothing on my face.

There was definitely something wrong with my hair, though. It was full of tangles and snarls, as though a cat had been kneading it with its paws all night. And then there was the fact that it looked as though I'd stuck my finger into an electric socket. In other words, it was an absolute mess. No wonder they were laughing.

What I did might seem childish, but I was embarrassed. Don't blame me.

At that moment, I screamed several choice swear words in English, Russian, and even French (courtesy of my sister. Perhaps someone should've stopped her when she began cussing in her language of study in front of a three-year-old boy when mad. She said it was helping her perfect the language. But I digress), yelled at the Captain to put several of the giggling engineers on the next away mission whether they were suited or not, leapt out of my chair, stormed to the turbolift, and with a final 'You'll regret zat!', requested the turbolift take me down to my quarters.

I then brushed my hair and spent the day avoiding Alpha Shift. I didn't even go out to have lunch. I was so embarrassed!
At least it never happened again. Besides, everyone apologized after I nearly dried of a head trauma on my next away mission and somehow it ended up looking intentional. Well, I have pride, but not that much.

Author's note: The hair scene is based on occasional mishaps I've had. Having long hair and a cat who loves to knead it with her paws makes for some very painful combing in the morning.

Gosh, that last part seemed rushed!

I have recently become a fan of the Sulu/Uhura pairing and could explain how it totally makes sense, but you came here for a story about Chekov's hair. Giggle giggle…

I don't know; I've always figured Chekov knows at least two languages other than English. Thus his knowledge of French. His sister probably got into a lot of trouble some times. Swearing in front of a three-year-old! Bad girl!

Please review and thanks in advance from both Chekov and me!