J.J.

JJ stared at the wall from his position on the floor as if the blank space offended him; like it was the reason he was in a creative slump. Maybe if he could just sketch something, anything really, he’d naturally get back to that mindset. Inventing always seemed to come so easy to him when he was younger. Though, back then, it’d been the way he survived. These days, inventing wasn’t so much about seeing the next day anymore, rather it’d turned into his passion.  Flipping the permanent marker between his fingers, JJ worried his lip between his teeth, trying not to get too upset over how useless he felt. He didn’t hear the footsteps behind him until it was too late. That is to say, until the person was standing directly behind him, startling him from his stupor. “Ah! Jeeze, you scared me... am I in your way?” he asked, only now realizing he was taking up most of the hallway in his seated position, but making no effort to move regardless. Turning his gaze back to the wall, he had half a mind to throw the damn marker at it. “Say, what do you do when you’re in a creative slump?” he asked, not really caring if the other person was up for a conversation, “My hands want to invent, but my brain doesn’t want to cooperate.” 

JJ wandered aimlessly, letting the night take him wherever it pleased. He didn’t have any sort of goal but maybe he’d stumble upon something interesting. Ardad never seemed to sleep, always bustling with some sort of activity. He couldn’t complain, insomnia keeping him up well into the early hours of the morning more often than not.  Turning the corner towards the townhouses, he heard the bass thumping long before he saw the cause of it. Parties weren’t uncommon but that wasn’t going to stop him from checking it out, maybe even trying to weasel his way inside.  Approaching the row of buildings, it seemed he wasn’t the only one who was curious, seeing Arielle peering into the townhouse from the street. “Hey!” he voiced, approaching the other. Giggling softly at the other’s reaction, he waved away the apology, “What are you sorry for?” At their question, JJ titled his head and considered the townhouse for a moment. “Nope! No clue. I don’t really see what makes these so special anyway, it’s just a bigger space on a different street,” he mused, wondering what the appeal was. He was sure if he were to live in one of these he would just fill the rooms with a bunch of garbage anyway, his hoarding tendencies making sure of it.  Turning towards Arielle once again, JJ smiled devilishly, “Well, fancy finding out? I’ve always been curious as to what’s inside one of these. I bet we could weasel our way into the party if we tried.” 

- JJ was orphaned when the incident happened. His parents were working near Eligos at the time while he stayed behind in Ardad with some estranged family member.  - He was soon booted from said family member’s home, he wasn’t really their responsibility after all and their relation was questionable at best. He doesn’t really resent their choice.  - He learned to invent, tinker, and build - essentially all the skills to survive on his own and stay safe as a scrawny kid out on the streets by himself.  - Was taken up by a squatter in his later years and didn’t think twice about saying yes to the offer. A place to stay for free? Sounded pretty rad. He now resides in one of the rooms above the garage.  - He picked up hoarding as a survival tactic, but now just collects things he thinks he might want to use later in inventions.  - Frequents the garage for parts but can often be seen in other parts of town scavenging scraps and other forgotten tech.  - Not typically someone you’ll see requesting the cleaning services since he doesn’t really think his place is that much of a mess.  - JJ didn’t really have a proper upbringing so he can kind of be a little shit. He means well most of the time, he just doesn’t know how to go about it politely.  - Will believe almost anything anyone tells him and can be really naive about situations. Once was convinced eggs weren’t real. He really should know better at this point but can’t help but believe people have good intentions.  - Sticks his nose into places it probably doesn’t belong and gets into trouble frequently. Uses his inventions to get out of said trouble but isn’t always successful.  - Cries easily and just feels a lot of things, especially in the early morning when he’s just woken up.  - JJ Has hope for the future, even if he doesn’t really know where he’s going, he’s just winging it right now and hoping for the best.