[ Grimly. ] It didn't sound like supplementing. Supplementing I could have understood. I assume that's the difference between Nuada's phrasing and Thranduil's?
Mm. [That's mostly a yes. One day he'll learn how to answer with words instead of grunts. Maybe.] Thranduil's good at keeping me updated. Didn't think he'd pick someone like that to take over.
[ This is what happens when you have a trading country handling any kind of authoritative politics. He resists the urge to knead his forehead. ]
You should be able to delegate, as head of your department, but there's such a thing as too much delegation. Thranduil defers to you out of politeness, but he doesn't answer to you the way Nuada answers to him.
[If he wasn't smoking he would be scrubbing at his face, he feels you Nathan.]
Yeah, I know. [For all of that.] They were already doin' it, been fine so far. An' - we're down to four people. In the department, I mean. [He lets out a short huff of air.] Need all the help I can get.
[It's more venting than trying to explain himself - mini rant over, he realizes he didn't actually answer the question.]
[ Nathan shakes his head. ] But that's just it. They're offering you help without granting you any authority over their actions. This song and dance over getting your permission to police the place as they like doesn't actually provide you with anything more than the illusion of help. If there's a bout of potato blight and the whole harvest needs to be rescued, you can't just reorganise people to assist, because they're not with you.
The elves more than anyone should be signed up for agriculture. They want to live there, they should work for it. For you.
[He's smoking as he mulls all of that over, eyes sliding away from the comms and toward some point to the side.]
Still keeps us from wastin' time babysitting. [But that's not the point, so he nods and snaps his attention back to the screen.] You're right, yeah. Can't tell 'em they can't live there unless they work, though.
No, we can't. But a more general announcement supported by the Heads of every department might do so. Everyone here gets something from us, and our support staff have become less and less in recent months. They get food, they get oxygen, they get communication, they get protection, and medical assistance. If they want to keep relying on that, then they need to pitch in, because the very simple truth is that the ship can't continue to provide without their help.
What happens if agriculture no longer has any members, Ned? Who delivers the fresh food to the kitchens the way everyone expects it to be? What happens when the ship flies into a sun and there's only three people with the expertise needed to fly shuttles? I don't want to know the answers to those questions, but if we carry on the way we are, we're going to find out.
[ffff nathan he doesn't know what to do with a pile of thoughts and theories, he needs something a little more concrete to work with. Cue him blinking back, politely puzzled, while he tries to find something to latch onto in all that.]
So you're proposing... what. [There's a downward twist to his mouth as he decides to re-phrase.] Or - what kinda announcement.
I'm not sure yet, but it'll have to be after the jump. I was thinking if I put something together in my old style, I might direct people toward the right heads of department no matter what their persuasion, or how long they'd been here. We all need help now.
[ He shakes his head. Really, he has no idea beyond that, but it'll have to come quickly enough, with the jump looming. ]
[He twists the last little bit of cigarette between his gloved fingers, putting it out, and plays with his lighter rather than light a new one. That's worrying. All? He's been too busy alternately sulking, working, and fretting through his grief to keep up with anything outside of his own department and a handful of people; he's suddenly realizing just how out of the loop he's been.]
Tyke's the one who doesn't have any problem, one out of every ten people on board are on security. Which would be fine if everyone lived on the same floors, but every month people get spread out a little thinner.
Carolyn's down, Communications is skeletal, Medical...medical is at a point where I'm praying we don't have another epidemic.
[ Nathan: King of Keeping Track of Frightening Stuff. ]
Maybe - can't all post, [it's muttered, something between throwing ideas at Nathan and thinking aloud,] but uh. Could all answer a post. Or - what keeps people from joinin' departments.
[That last line of thinking is pointed at Nathan.]
Something everyone replies to could work out; I could organize that. I'll speak to the others first to get their consent.
[ And that last bit earns a musing pause. ]
I know a few things which do, among them fear that committing yourself means you're going to be here longer, that you're consenting in your own kidnapping. Most of the passengers here arrived in the last six months. But sometimes there's pride, or ingrained self-reliance; people who think they don't need anyone else. I'll have to be careful what I say not to offend those, while nudging the others in the right direction.
[Just a nod to the first; if Nathan says he'll do it, he'll do it. The rest he listens to without comment, other than a skeptical brow at what sounds ridiculously superstitious to him. Joining a department doesn't seem to matter to the ship. The skeptical brow becomes two puzzled ones at the last sentence.]
We need 'em, though. [He crosses his arms, lighter forgotten, and then gives Nathan a look that's downright inquisitive.] Careful, huh. Y'got any tips?
Well it's all in the words you choose. I mean, you can usually tell who the tough guy types are straight away, they like to give you grief about things. Now the key isn't to cajole them into it. Threatening them doesn't work either, or talking down to them. You can compliment them, but you shouldn't be too obvious about it. So say you ask them what skills they have and they say 'I can break a person's neck with one hand', you go 'really, I saw a guy break his neck once, must take a lot of force to do that with one hand', even though what you're really thinking is somewhere between 'this fucking psycho' and 'good fit for security'. So you segue off talking about neckbreaking and suddenly he's not cold any more, and you can say 'so if you're interested, security doesn't have anyone like you, I reckon you could teach them a thing or two.' Appealing to their vanity, you see. It's like a boxing match, there's no point wasting all your good moves in the first round. You spread it out, take a few dives if you have to, but if you stick it out right then they'll think it was their idea to hit the mat at the end.
[That's enough of an essay that he fishes out a (casual!) cigarette as he listens, snorting at "this fucking psycho" while he lights it and nods. Noted.]
See what you mean. Don't think...
[He doesn't think that sort of situation is going to be a problem, in his case.]
Agriculture doesn't get the, uh. Tough guy types. Usually Ren Faire or people who suck at talkin' as much as I do. [Actually.] Or don't talk at all.
[How is half of his department mute.]
Getting people interested is the hard part. For my department, I mean. Haven't talked anyone outta joining yet.
[Is that the slightest bit of self-depreciating humor we see WHY YES IT IS.]
Edited (accidentally the subject line) 2014-04-08 17:57 (UTC)
Hey, the Ren Faire types are the toughest guys around. I don't know about you but I can take on a guy with a gun no problem. Someone with a sword, though? Gives me the heebie jeebies. And all that 'My Lord' stuff; I couldn't take it.
[ He's laughing, though, and tilts his head slightly. ]
You just gotta sell it. It's peaceful, nobody will expect you to risk your life on a daily basis, only skill that is unnecessary is the ability to kill plants by looking at them. Hell, anyone could work in your department, Ned. Anyone at all. Kids could go back and forth carrying water to the chickens and picking ripe apples, and lets face it a little fresh air is what most of these loners need.
[They're still not Tough Guys!! It's a goofy thing to argue, though, and as much as he'd appreciate a little levity in his life right now there's business to attend to. Brows go up at the word selling, but talking about kids working in the Gardens - he knows.]
Mattie was one-a the best we had.
[Fuck, he misses her, but other than his lips thinning before he takes a drag he doesn't stay on the subject.]
[ Talking about kids, seriously. If he knew the next jump would take Takeshi, too, Nathan would have been more delicate. ]
Well you could sell tea to the Chinese, I don't doubt your skill for a second. In any case, Ned, I'll put something up, and you can just swing by it. A few words, that's all it needs.
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[And he's pissy over it. He pauses to nod, yes, that was the difference, and lights up smoke #2.]
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[ Explain again why he didn't declare himself the Captain of Sorting This Shit Out months ago? ]
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You should be able to delegate, as head of your department, but there's such a thing as too much delegation. Thranduil defers to you out of politeness, but he doesn't answer to you the way Nuada answers to him.
Have you spoken to Tyke about it?
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Yeah, I know. [For all of that.] They were already doin' it, been fine so far. An' - we're down to four people. In the department, I mean. [He lets out a short huff of air.] Need all the help I can get.
[It's more venting than trying to explain himself - mini rant over, he realizes he didn't actually answer the question.]
Not yet.
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The elves more than anyone should be signed up for agriculture. They want to live there, they should work for it. For you.
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[He's smoking as he mulls all of that over, eyes sliding away from the comms and toward some point to the side.]
Still keeps us from wastin' time babysitting. [But that's not the point, so he nods and snaps his attention back to the screen.] You're right, yeah. Can't tell 'em they can't live there unless they work, though.
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What happens if agriculture no longer has any members, Ned? Who delivers the fresh food to the kitchens the way everyone expects it to be? What happens when the ship flies into a sun and there's only three people with the expertise needed to fly shuttles? I don't want to know the answers to those questions, but if we carry on the way we are, we're going to find out.
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So you're proposing... what. [There's a downward twist to his mouth as he decides to re-phrase.] Or - what kinda announcement.
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[ He shakes his head. Really, he has no idea beyond that, but it'll have to come quickly enough, with the jump looming. ]
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You too? [A scowl.] Or everyone. How bad is it.
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Carolyn's down, Communications is skeletal, Medical...medical is at a point where I'm praying we don't have another epidemic.
[ Nathan: King of Keeping Track of Frightening Stuff. ]
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[He huffs and runs a hand through his hair.]
Maybe - can't all post, [it's muttered, something between throwing ideas at Nathan and thinking aloud,] but uh. Could all answer a post. Or - what keeps people from joinin' departments.
[That last line of thinking is pointed at Nathan.]
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[ And that last bit earns a musing pause. ]
I know a few things which do, among them fear that committing yourself means you're going to be here longer, that you're consenting in your own kidnapping. Most of the passengers here arrived in the last six months. But sometimes there's pride, or ingrained self-reliance; people who think they don't need anyone else. I'll have to be careful what I say not to offend those, while nudging the others in the right direction.
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We need 'em, though. [He crosses his arms, lighter forgotten, and then gives Nathan a look that's downright inquisitive.] Careful, huh. Y'got any tips?
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We have the time, we just need the stamina.
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See what you mean. Don't think...
[He doesn't think that sort of situation is going to be a problem, in his case.]
Agriculture doesn't get the, uh. Tough guy types. Usually Ren Faire or people who suck at talkin' as much as I do. [Actually.] Or don't talk at all.
[How is half of his department mute.]
Getting people interested is the hard part. For my department, I mean. Haven't talked anyone outta joining yet.
[Is that the slightest bit of self-depreciating humor we see WHY YES IT IS.]
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[ He's laughing, though, and tilts his head slightly. ]
You just gotta sell it. It's peaceful, nobody will expect you to risk your life on a daily basis, only skill that is unnecessary is the ability to kill plants by looking at them. Hell, anyone could work in your department, Ned. Anyone at all. Kids could go back and forth carrying water to the chickens and picking ripe apples, and lets face it a little fresh air is what most of these loners need.
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Mattie was one-a the best we had.
[Fuck, he misses her, but other than his lips thinning before he takes a drag he doesn't stay on the subject.]
Yeah, I can sell it.
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Well you could sell tea to the Chinese, I don't doubt your skill for a second. In any case, Ned, I'll put something up, and you can just swing by it. A few words, that's all it needs.
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Yeah. I'll work on it tonight. What I'm gonna say, I mean.
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You could even prerecord it if you want. In any case, I'll speak with you tomorrow.