(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

[outstandingbalance]

Not likely to forget it now, either.

[sinistral]

You could always write it down.

[outstandingbalance]

Start keeping a journal?

[sinistral]

Would it hurt to do so?

[outstandingbalance]

Not at all. Some people I respect have done that.

But it does mean evidence.

[sinistral]

Unhackable. And easily destroyed.

[outstandingbalance]

Not wrong. But you do have to keep it secure.

[sinistral]

A job that should be easy enough with certain talents at one's disposal.

[outstandingbalance]

Maybe. Sometimes around here, things get out of your control.

[Which she hates, by the way. Too many variables she can't control and can't predict.]

But that goes for everything. Even the stuff in your own head. Not an argument against writing it down.

[sinistral]

True enough.

[He's uncomfortable in much the same way, truth be told.]

Encoding it may help with the writing it down. It's still not the most secure, but it's better than nothing.

[outstandingbalance]

Good advice. I'll keep it in mind.

[sinistral]

Along with a good, healthy death threat against anyone trying to snoop.

[outstandingbalance]

You think I have to make threats like that.

[sinistral]

Not at all. It's just sometimes fun to see their faces when you do.

[outstandingbalance]

I'll have to make sure to do it where you can see next time.

[sinistral]

Now you're being generous. Should I be worried?

[outstandingbalance]

Maybe.

[Or maybe she should be. Either way.]

[sinistral]

The right answer, as always.

[What could be more right — for either of them — than an indirect answer?]