(no subject)

[outstandingbalance]

Who: Natasha Romanoff
Broadcast: video
Action: SS Vanquish
When: now or later

[Natasha's face appears on the video, looking tired but focused. Thoughtful. She also looks like the image she presents, insofar as she can control it, is intentional. She's in her quarters, but the camera is angled to reveal little aside from a blank ship wall and the edge of her bunk behind her face and shoulders. There's no fumbling.

When the video starts, she flashes a slight smile.]

As announcements go, this one's a bit late. As of the end of calibrations, I've been the listed captain for the Vanquish.

[It's not an announcement that comes with any pride, or any sense of authority.]

It has had me thinking. I know different ships treat the titles differently, take them more seriously—or less. Most of the time it hasn't mattered to me all that much.

Not like there's any qualifications for it.

[The 'but' in her words is heavily implied in the pause that follows, the slow way she sighs through her nose.]

I've been wondering lately how people would like it to be. If you had a say in it—hypothetically unless you're my crew I suppose—how would you like captains to treat their job? And what would you say their job is.

[She leans back a little, visibly waiting for a response before the video cuts out.]

Comments

video;;

[fantachetic]

I would send you a congratulatory gift basket if there were any inkling that you enjoyed that sort of thing. It's very hard to say whether the position holds merit in a place where our ships, for the most part, have a destination of their own in mind. [ Dorian, your boyfriend is literally the captain of his ship. ] However, it is typically best for the one running the establishment to have some sort of ideal in mind for their personnel. For instance, whilst the Inquisitor does not know the exact steps he will have to take, he still has a general idea of what he wants the Inquisition to be known for.

[outstandingbalance]

Like I said, it's not something I put a whole lot of stock in. That or gifts, either one.

[And Natasha's boyfriend was too. Same ship, even. To say nothing of her other friends and teammates.]

So you think that the best expectation for a captain is for the captain to have expectations for their crew?

[fantachetic]

Precisely. The best leaders tend to know how to delegate. What use are people who do not know the inner workings of their own designation? Running from it merely proves that they are unwilling to accept the changes that approach them.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha hums at that, choosing not to be insulted by that.]

So you do thing captains are leaders, ideally.

[sassy_assassin]

Here, who knows. Mediation, I suppose. Making sure no one does anything stupid. Deciding on a united front for big decisions.

[outstandingbalance]

As opposed to other places? [Since that's the implication.] Sounds like you know a thing or two about it.

[sassy_assassin]

It's more of a closed environment here than at home. Less free will overall.

But yeah, I have some captaining experience.

video;

[unbearablynaive]

[Well. Having been a captain himself for quite some time, the Vision does have opinions on this.]

I took it as an opportunity to ensure all my crew's needs were met. There were several times when I arbitrated a dispute between one of my crew and someone from another ship. I asked around before making any changes to public areas and then proceeded with approval, including organizing upgrade payments, and as a formality I approved transfer requests for those wishing to join.

[Kitty's a good captain, and he doesn't begrudge her the role, but judging by his tone he misses it. There was never a chance of him being any kind of leader back home, not being surrounded by alpha males Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.]

Ah, and as a supplement, a first mate would take care of these duties when a captain is on leave or temporarily glitched in such a way that they are unable to adequately perform them.

[outstandingbalance]

[It's welcome; Natasha respects both the Vision's experience and his opinions, even if they're not always on the same page or coming from the same place.]

When you put it that way, it sounds like more of a privilege and less of a responsibility. How often would you say it came up?

[unbearablynaive]

Two disputes, many upgrades, three-quarters of the cargo bay and three transfers. Ah, and resupplies every time we entered a new system, as well as many miscellaneous duties. For example, Misty became upset that Castle's janitorial bots were programmed to exterminate space vermin, so I reprogrammed them to capture them and deposit them in an enclosure instead, which we then released into ecosystems that would not be overly negatively impacted by their presence.

voice;

[abracafcku]

Oooh so you're the one who Mags has to answer to.

[Hopefully she knows who "Mags" is.]

Hope he hasn't given you too much trouble, eh?

[outstandingbalance]

[She can guess, though she can't say they're on nickname terms.

It's not hard to put together.]

Answer too is a strong way to put it, but I suppose that would be me now. You're a friend?

[abracafcku]

Ehhhhhh you could-- No, I--

[Fuck. Why is it so hard just to say "Yes, he's a friend"?]

Guess you could say that, sure. We've been adventuring together-- well, before coming here, that is, for uh...a few months? Almost half a year? ...No wait, more than that.

Whatever. I know him.

Was just wondering what his ship and crew were like. He hasn't just stripped it down in your common room yet has he? If not, maybe he's still behaving himself.

[Maybe it's hard because Taako's here to absolutely wreck his reputation.]

text;

[sinistral]

What do you want that job to be?

[Which is. Not answering any of her questions.]

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha notices that detail, it's true.]

Not sure. Trying to figure that out.

[sinistral]

Seems like it'd be a thing you could define for yourself.

video

[passingthrough]

A version of you was my first captain here briefly. She was good at it from what I remember. I was still adjusting. [Who gets tired of hearing of versions of themselves? Hopefully no one here because it happens a fair amount!]

[Does she want to browse the respondents for her crew? Or does she definitely not want ot do that? Decisions. Decisions. brb already browsing.]

[outstandingbalance]

You mentioned that once before. [And Natasha hadn't pursued it much at the time. Back then, the idea of another version of her, of missing those memories, had still been new and unnerving.] Sounds like she was more hands on.

[passingthrough]

She wanted to walk me through some stuff since I was new. I'm not sure how regular ship time worked. I spent a lot of time exploring early on. Not exactly manning my station.

video

[theirondragon]

[He's grinning when the feed initializes.]

Well, shit. Congratulations, Red. I guess that makes us equals now. I should buy you a drink.

[outstandingbalance]

Are you saying I wasn't on your level before? [The smile and the face are both welcome. She works up the spirit to tease him a little about it.]

I'm not sure I've done anything to earn a drink, but I won't turn it down either.

[theirondragon]

In some ways, sure. [And he'll just let that dangle for a minute.]

Who needs a reason, Red? It's drinking!

video;

[candothat]

Congratulations on your promotion?

[He sounds extremely uncertain. Someone had to leave for her to be promoted, after all, and Natasha doesn't seem like someone who is particularly intent on being in charge.]

I think that, in the fleet, the only job of a captain is to listen to their crew. If your crew has certain expectations, they will likely make those expectations known.


[ooc: As always, you are quite welcome to ignore this very very late reply!]

[outstandingbalance]

I wondered if you might have some input. You have more experience with this kind of thing than I do.

[In a way, at least. More the kind of captains that mean something here.]

I'm still getting used to the rank.

((ooc: never! i will reply always.))

[candothat]

Most of my experience with command and captains is likely irrelevant in this situation, but thank you for imagining that I may have something useful to say.

[Captains here, as far as he can tell, don't actually need to do much of anything. He hasn't thought too much about what they could do.]

It sounds good though--Captain Romanoff. [He smiles.] The rank has benefits beyond the title, correct? I have heard that they have nicer beds. That would be very easy to get used to.