Name: Willow
Age: 23
Description: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678402@N08/3057035414/
Personality: Willow is normally shy and tends to keep to herself though she has a secret adventurous side that rarely surfaces.
Background: Willow's father died when she was young and has always been raised by her mother. Her mother died a few years back, leaving her alone in the world. She's been desperate for work lately, willing to do almost anything to keep a roof over her head and food on the table.

Name: Gale
age: 21
description:

Personality: Gale is timid and easy to scare off. but once he can relax he is full of fun and humor. He can be moody an dis easily hurt due to his capture and confinement. He was found by one of the crime lords lackeys and given to him as a gift to gain a higher status and favor. He has been the prize possession in his secret mansion since.

Willow moved quickly through the marble hallways, following the elder maid who was showing her around. She was overwhelmed slightly by how large the mansion was yet found relief in the fact that she'd found a job that included a room to sleep in. "Never forget to dust thoroughly." The elder maid snapped, bringing Willow back to attention. "Every crack and every corner will be noticed." She said. Dust everything... Willow memorized in her mind.

"Where will I be staying?" Willow asked, willing to brave the wrath of the maid.

"Here. At the end of our tour." The woman said, gesturing to a small room at the end of the hallway. "This is the servant quarters. And by the way, I'm Jessica." The woman introduced herself warmly, taking Willow by surprise. "Supper is in an hour. Feel free to explore some but be prepared to work after supper." The woman warned.

"Thank you." Willow said, smiling at the woman who bustled off to let Willow settle in. Willow set down her bag on top of the small bed, not ready to unpack. She wasn't sure when she'd be able to explore the mansion again. Rather then unpack her bag, she set out through the maze of hallways and gazed curiously around the luxurious rooms.

Gale was a little relaxed today as the master of the house was out on business for the day. Instead of his usual sulking in the corner he swam lazily in the tubes throughout the house that connected the several tanks staged at poetic focal points within the mansion. He could swim almost all over the main hallways, from the masters suite, and even a few of the more public rooms.

It had been over two year now in this place, the first year he was stuck on a much smaller pool while reconstruction was done on the mansion to enlarger the area in which the master may view him. He hated to be treated like some exotic fish to be oohed and awed over. Of course that's kinda what he was. He was a mythical merman after all. His race although in few, had remained hidden from the world. That was until that wretched accident.....

he shook his head, he didn't want to think about that. For now he would actually enjoy swimming and he would pretend he was back in the sea.

Willow peeked into a room with a large oak door to find rows of bookcases. A library... She though excitedly, making her way to the books to run her fingers along the spines of the old books. She pondered for a moment whether or not the master of the house would check the inventory of his books. He had a wonderful collection, filled with classics.

She reluctantly left the library, wanting to explore more. Willow found another room that looked like a dining hall. A large table laid out in the middle of the room with the place settings already set out. Each place had several forks in various sizes, none of which Willow knew what the uses were.

Glancing around the room, Willow spotted a large tube that looked as if it was filled with, water? She tilted her head from curiousity, pressing her hand against the cool glass tube. Strange... She thought to herself.

Gale had his eyes almost completely closed, so he didn't notice the girl at first as he came swimming in through the dining area. He saw the dark sahpe out o fthe corner of his eye only as he was about to swim past her...he slowed down and looked. It wasn't anyone he knew of.

Most of the servants payed him no mind. He was sure they were told to ignore him and not to look or interact. The master would think it un befitting anyone of lower rank them himself to look upon his treasure.

He stopped completely and put his hands on the glass almost on top of where hers was and looked at her. She seemed like she had a kind face. He frowned sadly, she didn't belong in such a place as this. No kind soul should be in this evil tyrant's lair.

Willow's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she saw the strange boy in the tube. Her eyes traveled over the webbed hands and the fins that provided for the bottom half of her body. She watched as the webbing in his hands spread, pressed against the glass opposite of where Willow's hand was.

"Hello." She said softly, feeling like a fool. Of course he wouldn't be able to hear her through the glass but she figured it was polite to say something rather then just stare.

He smiled.... She actually talked to him. His hearing was excellent in the water, but he still had trouble through the glass. He thought it was a 'hello...' He gave a little wave and mouthed the same word back. His tip of his tail curling and uncurling.

If the master had treated him better he might have learned the merfolk tail habits. When he was happy, and kind of like a dog, he curled and uncurled the fins of his tail. When sad they tend to drift down to the bottom of the pool, tail sagging down.

Willow smiled at the boy, watching as his tail curled and uncurled. "Willow!" She heard the other maid, Jessica, call. Willow glanced at the door before turning back to the boy.

"Bye." She mouthed, giving him a wave before rushing out the door.

"There you are." Jessica sighed, seeing Willow leave the dining hall. "Come down to the kitchen for supper." She said quickly before running off. Willow turned back once to the door to the dining hall before following the elder maid down the hall and towards the kitchen.

There was the vibrations of a shout somewhere nearby and He looked toward the doors. the girl also looked and then mouthed something and ran off. He sighed and glanced longingly at where the girl left.

She was the one bright and pure smile in the place. He wanted to have tried to talk with her. he sighed again and swam onwards, toward one of the more open tanks. he wish he was free to walk the corridors at least, but no, there were grates over any openings and they were locked. He was left in here unless the master ordered him to come and dine with him or whatever the master ordered of him. Some things he had ordered, he blacked out from his mind. The master was cruel and forceful. He only hoped he would be long and tired in coming back this evening.

Willow followed Jessica to the kitchen with her handds clasped behind her back as she gazed around the hallway, lost in thought. "Here we are." Jessica said, snapping Willow back to reality.

Willow walked into the kitchen, seeing it was much more run down then she had expected. All the appliances seemed second hand and the sink was dripping. "Oh." Willow said softly.

"Its the servant kitchen." Jessica explained. "The main kitchen is much less...gross?" Jessicae laughed, moving to the fridge and pulling out a tray of sandwiches. "The chef from the main kitchen made these earlier, we got the leftovers." Jessica explained, handing the tray out to Willow.

"Thank you." Willow said, taking a sandwich and nibbling gently. Chicken salad, her favourite. "Where am I going to clean after this?" Willow asked as Jessica took her own sandwich and began to eat.

"You'll take this floor." Jessica explained. "Its about 7 rooms so you're going to have to work fast to get it down before the master returns."

((hmmmm should we make a sheet for the master and define his character? What do you think we should do with the master's personality etc?))

Gale floated and swam along. He stayed on the floor where he had met the girl, hoping perchance he might meet with her again. He found a little seat amongst some decorative rocks. that popped out to the water. here he was able to come up out of the water, even though there were still fences and a hidden grate above a vine and leafy canopy, The room was staged like a small oasis with a very deep pool. He had snagged a fish earlier from his feeding pool and was nibbling on it, at first chance some would look upon it as a sort of cannibalism, but it wasn't really. fish at other fish, he wasn't eating merfolk flesh so there was no real species mingling here.

Willow moved quickly through the first few rooms, working at a fast pace so that everything was done in time. She noticed that the long water tube ran through most of the rooms and wondered briefly if there was a room where the tunnels met. Maybe a pool room... She pondered as she finished dusting the last bookcase in the library.

Finally... Willow sighed. The library made 5 rooms cleaned. All that was left was a door she hadn't yet entered and the servant kitchen. Deciding to explore the other room, curious as to what she'd find there considering she'd already found a library, a sitting room, and a kind of game room on this floor.

Willow moved carefully towards the door, pressing her ear against the wood before entering. When she walked in it took a moment for her to recover, blown away by the beautiful greens and blue that stood out. It took a few moments before she saw the boy sitting in the small pool in the middle of the room.

"Oh!" Willow gasped, seeing that he was eating a fish. "I'm so sorry. I just came in to clean." She said lamely, ducking her head.

((I hadn't mentioned he changed to human form...but this could be fun...Guess i can add that to the beginning of my post. Remember there prob is some sort of fence, or window between them.))

He felt like being in his human form as he sat there. It would be easier to sit there anyway. He Relaxed and let his form, sort of slip...His legs shimmered and the scales on his legs seem to fall off or melt leaving two long and pale human legs. He reached over to a bag on the side of the rock. He kept a pair of shorts there for modesty. They were sort of a metallic spandex, and were long, going to his knees. He got more comfortable on his rock and picked up his fish again. He was almost finished with when he heard the door open.

he sighed in relief when it was not the master but the girl he met earlier. He lowered his hands from his mouth and grinned at the girl.

"It's nice to see you again. Are you knew in working here? This doesn't' seem the kind of place that such a nice girl would be working."

"Yes, I'm new." Willow said, surprised to find that the boy had legs where his fins had been. "I needed a job and the master here offered me room and board." She explained, moving closer to the gate that seperated them. "What are you doing here?" She asked before blushing a brilliant red. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I only meant that you seem kind of...restricted. Wouldn't you rather live outside rather then inside?" She asked.

He chuckled at that. how little she knew. She was definitely and innocent.

"Of course I would rather live outside, but I have no choice in the matter. I'm a prisoner and I am kept here as the Master's prize fish. He laughed a little nervously and rubbed his hands together. Even in his human form the webbing between his fingers was longer than usual.

"Hmmm room and board. Perhaps you two are a kind of prisoner. One who came to the honey pot offered out of necessity. I hope you may leave just as freely as I can not." his smile was kind, but did not hide the years of sadness behind it.

"I'm sorry." Willow apologized, looking at her feet. "I shouldn't have brought that up. I should probably leave. I didn't mean to upset you." She said politely before ducking out of room. She knew she shouldn't have gone in there. I just insulted a perfectly nice boy who's trapped inside this house... Willow thought, shaking her head as she leaned against the closed door behind her.

He muttered under his breath. he hadn't meant to upset the girl. Now his only chance of a kind word and smile had left him. He scowled and tore off his shorts and dived into the water. He initiated his change and swam deep into the pool.

He made to do some fast laps around through the house. He swam faster and faster from the interconnecting tubes. The need to do something ached at him, but there wasn't much he could do.

Willow made her way to the last room on the floor, a lounge by the looks of it. She began to flip the cushions of the couches, never noticing the large water tube behind her. Making her way to the fireplace, Willow dusted the wooden surface until the oak seemed to sparkle in the firelight. Perfect... Willow decided with a satisfied smile. She'd always found cleaning relaxing in way.

Making her way to the small bar, Willow set the liquor bottles around her on the floor as she polished the shelves inside. Soon, she was humming a small tune to herself as she organized the bottles in the cabinet and polished the glass sitting on the top.

As he sped around, he almost didn't notice her. He stopped and had to swim back to make sure. There the girl seemed to be cleaning the lounge. He felt some soft sound vibrations. They were constant and he thought he could actually hear her humming. she had done a good job. He could see the ripples and reflected water among the floor right below the water tube.

He tapped on the glass, trying to get her attention. he wanted to at least wave to her, try and patch things up a little.

Willow jumped slightly when she heard the tapping noise. She turned around slowly, unsure of what was tapping, before sighing in relief when she saw the boy again. "Hello." SHe lamely, bowing her head with a half full Scotch bottle still in her hands.

((I colored his picture in the profile...Take a look!))

He smiled and waved at her. He laughed a little when she jumped, bubbles escaping to the top of the tube. He pointed at the room and gave her a thumbs up. It looked very nice so far.

While he could hear her if she was close to the tube, talking for him inside was a bit harder to understand. For one thing if he talked, it all came out as bubbles.

He gestured toward the cleaning supplies, and mimicked sweeping with a broom. Then he pointed to his wrist as if a watch was there, trying to ask her when she'd be done cleaning.

Willow looked confused for a moment, unsure of what the boy was mimicking before it clicked. "Soon." She said, a little loudly, hoping that he would be able to hear her. "I need to finish the bar." She said, moving quickly to the bar and replaced all the bottles in thier places before turning back to the boy.

"All done." She smiled as she returned to the tube, one of her hands pressed against the cool glass.

He smiled at her and watched as she finished with the last of the bottles. He put his hands where she put hers against the glass. Gale splayed them wide showing off the webbing of his hands. he smiled and pointed with one hand in the direction of his little oasis, where he could be out of the water and talk with her. He mimicked chatting with his hands and looked at her questioningly.

Willow laughed quietly as the boy made gestures with his hands to talk to her. Nodding, Willow made her way out the door and traveled down the hall to the small room where the pond was. Unsure of whether or not to knock, Willow made her way inside and stood cautiously by the door as she waited for the boy to appear again.