Name: Romeo Versari
Nickname: Uh... Romo? Like Tony Romo. That's all right.
Age: 16
Birthday: November 8
Sign: Scorpio
Gemstone: Topaz
Blood Type: A
Fav. Food: Pancakes, usually with sausage and bacon and berry syrup rolled up into a pancakewich. Yeah, it's delicious. He's also fond of most red meats and pastas.
Hated Food: If it's food, he'll eat it. Romeo learned to stop caring about how something tasted a long time ago. If he's given a choice between seafood and anything else, he'll pass on the seafood. He can choke it down if he really has to, though.
School: Hillworth
Hobbies: Poker - Romeo used to buy in for like five bucks on those online poker sites and play for hours, teaching himself the rules of the game by playing -- and mostly losing. He never cashed in, as those weren't exactly on the level to begin with, and he didn't want anyone coming after him for the measly fifty bucks or so he would have walked away with. The experience he gained was invaluable, however, and he's set up something of an underground poker ring at Hillworth. Buy-in is usually low, because he's smart enough to stay under the radar, but whether it's due to sleight of hand or actual skill, Romeo tends to walk away at the end of the week with a decent revenue (and whether that's cash, cigarettes or condoms is always up to the hand played) from his dealings. He knows the value of throwing a hand once in a while, as well as letting everyone else win from time to time to keep them coming back, so until he gets busted, his business is thriving.
Mechanics - As the only man in the house since he was about seven, Romeo learned to take responsibility for a lot of things. One of his main duties happens to be taking care of the POS car that's expected to get his mom and two sisters from point A to point B on a regular basis. He has a love for the inner workings of cars, so much so that while it
seems like he's having a hell of a time and couldn't be more pissed off, in reality, Romeo is rarely happier than when he has his head under the hood of a car and is swearing up a blue streak. He's kept his mom's old Subaru Legacy on its wheels a lot longer than it reasonably should have been around, though that's not to say that it's without problems -- it's pretty much a constant work in progress.
Thug for Hire - If you've got some loose change and someone you want pounded, you might be able to convince Romeo to do it. His main stipulation is that he won't beat the hell out of someone who can't defend themselves -- most often, it seems like he gets slipped money by the nerds who want to see him pick fights with the other bullies. Still, you don't necessarily have to have
done something to warrant Romeo accepting money to kick the crap out of you -- sometimes, the price is just right, or maybe he just doesn't like your face.
He serves a lot of detention for fighting, gets assigned a lot of community service, but he's never beaten anyone up so badly that they needed urgent medical attention -- and he's careful never to use anything but his own fists, as he wants to avoid Juvie. Generally, he gets his point across and they both limp away from the fight; as Romeo has a reputation for fighting, he takes the brunt of the blame and gets most of the punishment to go with it. It has been impressed upon him multiple times that his "schoolkid scuffles" are not going to be looked at so mildly once he turns eighteen and gets out of Hillworth, but it just seems to go in one ear and out the other.
Community Service - Romeo gets enough of this through Hillworth's discipline programs to warrant having its own section, albeit small. He's pretty much constantly serving a couple hours a day on some sort of community service a couple days a week, largely due to some sort of misbehavior that's been recorded at Hillworth. Romeo guesses they figure he can at least be of some use to the community even if he's basically a worthless sack of s**t. Hey, he meets interesting people, anyway.
Virtues: Suave - Romeo's got a silver tongue and he knows how to use it, especially on the ladies. There's some kind of dangerous appeal to a bad boy that knows how to drop a compliment, and Romeo won't bat an eye at the prospect of flirting his way straight into a pair of pants and then flattering his way right back out in the hopes of no hard feelings. He tries not to leave girls brokenhearted in his wake, largely due to the fact that he has a single mother and he knows what kind of douchebaggery is involved there, but Romeo likes to have a good time. He likes to make girls feel good about themselves. He likes sex! All of these combine to inspire him to be smooth and suave with the ladies (never the men; while he
will sleep with men, he doesn't treat you the same as he would a woman. C'mon, you're no delicate flower.).
Sociable - Far from being a hardass with a devil-may-care attitude, Romeo is actually a rather sociable, friendly person. He likes people for the most part and enjoys hanging out with them, even if not much is said; he'll throw himself beside someone and strike up a conversation if he's moved to, or maybe he'll just lay there and enjoy the fact that there's another living body close by. He doesn't go out of his way to avoid people, not even if he picked a fight with them yesterday; to Romeo, personal and business lives are very separate, and while he might have accepted some dime to deliver a sharp right hook to you yesterday, today he might have to talk to you about exhaust systems. He doesn't even seem to care if you kicked the s**t out of him equally the day before, either -- Romeo likes people, likes to be around them, and would infinitely prefer to spend his time with
anyone rather than be alone.
Tolerant - There really isn't all that much that can make Romeo recoil from you in disgust. Gay? Eh. Transsexual? Eh. Atheist? Eh. Slut? Eh. People are people, and he firmly believes in personal choice and the right to be whoever the ******** you want to be without anyone else interfering on your decisions. If it has to do with your
own body, then he couldn't give two damns what you decide to do with it. Screw the whole football team, he doesn't care. Don't screw anybody. Sleep with your own sex, the opposite sex, animals, whatever. He doesn't necessarily want to hear about it, but he's not going to string you up on a cross and burn you alive for being different. Romeo accepts people as they are, good and bad parts, and he expects the same kind of consideration from those around him.
If he sees someone actively being bullied for something that he thinks is stupid (re: any form of -phobia or intolerance toward a lifestyle choice that isn't hurting anyone) he'll step up and tell the bully to back off. If they don't, he'll probably punch them. At the same time, when it comes to things that hurt other people -- murder (
not abortion -- they're two very different things to Romeo), *****, rape, etc. -- Romeo does
not condone them, and he will stand up and speak out against them. Tolerance only goes so far, and for Romeo, the line is damn firmly drawn.
Loyal - He's kind of your big, devoted, loving puppy dog that has a big jaw and a really strong bite. It doesn't take much to get Romeo to like you -- you've got to be a (mostly) decent person and not screw him over in a big way -- and once you do, he's pretty much your man. Pretty much. Romeo isn't blindly loyal to anyone, but he does place some heavy consideration toward doing favors for people he likes, and taking hits for people he likes, over total strangers. The price would have to be really high to get him to beat the hell out of a friend of his, for example, and on top of that they'd have to have actually
done something to warrant it. If it's just a lot of money and a personal grudge against his friend? No thanks. You might get socked for your efforts, too, depending on how much Romeo likes
you.
You can count on Romeo in a pinch, whether it's to fix up your car or have your back in a fight, as long as you understand that if you're a douchebag he will turn around and punch you in the face for it. He's a good, solid friend to have in the wings, and generally only expects the same kind of loyalty from people that he gives them -- so he won't hold it against you if you kick the crap out of him for being a douche, either. (For long.)
Flaws: Crude - If he's not trying to get in your pants, chances are, Romeo's not trying to impress you at all. He swears, he's lewd, and he doesn't really care what you think about what he has to say. You probably actually
can't take him anywhere nice, because he'll get nervous and then he'll start to degenerate into even more uncouth behavior. With his mom always being so busy, Romeo spent a good portion of his childhood hanging out with the guys down at the chop shop, so he learned a lot of unsavory jokes and behaviors from a young age. He doesn't see anything wrong with this. He's just a
normal guy, and everyone thinks what he's saying, they just don't have the balls to say it. Romeo's got balls enough for everyone! Metaphorically.
Rebellious - Who likes authority? Not Romeo. This is a large portion of why he gets in trouble so much at Hillworth, aside from picking fights -- he's damned lippy with his authority figures. If it comes from someone in charge, he suddenly doesn't want to do it, even if it's what he wanted to do to begin with. Romeo doesn't like being bossed, and he'll do what he can to buck authority and go his own way as long as he can get away with it. He finds the line by crossing it, and after he gets cuffed for it, he toes that line to the very limit he can take it.
This makes it very easy to manipulate Romeo, and he doesn't even know it's happening. If you really want him to do something,
tell him to do the opposite -- don't suggest it, don't ask him what he thinks, just goddamn tell him to go do something. Chances are, unless he'll put himself or others in mortal danger otherwise, he'll do the exact opposite of what you said just to stick it in your face. (If only he knew.)
Physical - Who has two fists and likes to punch away his problems? Romeo! The thing about being raised by a television and the guys at the chop shop is that you don't learn a lot of delicacy. Romeo learned from the time he was big enough to stop getting his a** kicked that in order to make people listen to him,
he had to kick a little a**. He doesn't solve problems emotionally or even logically most of the time; his gut instinct will always take him to intimidation and, when that doesn't work, violence. He doesn't even really have that bad of a temper, he just has learned that this is the most effective way to solve his problems, because it shuts people up and gets them doing what he wants. He's a hammer, and all his problems look like nails. Big nails.
Trying to reach Romeo on an emotional level is really, really difficult, largely because he learned that to Be a Man you had to tune all those uncomfortable things like emotions
out. He's not going to talk through his problem with you. He's not going to appeal to your better side. If you don't listen to him the first time, he's going to punch you. If you try to make him feel guilty or ashamed of himself, he's still probably going to punch you. He has a huge disconnect from the emotional plane of human interaction, largely because everything is so physical to him: relationships are sex, not intimacy, and problem-solving is violence, not compromise.
Morally ambiguous - Romeo follows his own justice code. It might not make sense to you, and it doesn't have to -- it just has to make sense to him. He'll stand up for the gay couple that are getting ragged on for kissing in public, and then he'll turn around and pummel somebody for twenty bucks. He doesn't believe that you have to obey the law or do what people tell you to be a good person, but rather that keeping your head down and following all the rules will just lead to you being a doormat. If he sees something that he sees as an injustice, he'll correct it. If he's not
really hurting anybody (and Romeo takes his fair share of beatings regularly from all the fights he picks, so bruises don't count) then he doesn't think it's anyone's damn business to step in and correct his behavior. But he'll correct yours if you're infringing on someone else's rights.
Basically, Romeo believes that the law is all well and good and it does what it can, but on a day-to-day basis, there's a lot going on that doesn't get caught. He thinks justice is the responsibility of everyone, and he'll take it into his own hands if he has to, whether that's upholding the law or breaking it -- some rules, he thinks, really
were made to be broken. And of course he thinks he's the utmost authority when it comes to deciding which ones these are.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: BrownHair: This style -- shortass spiky hair that's all
suavely styled because he is sexy. A darker red, though, more tame.
Face: Long, lean face with thin lips and thin, constantly semi-arched eyebrows. He has a scar that runs from just below his nose down over his mouth and curves along his neck; he got it when he was young and tripped over something, but he likes to say it was from a knife fight.
Clothes: Hillworth uniform!
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