Rocco Lazzaro

Host: The Lambent Eye
Author: SheepdogWA
Editing and CSS: Thursday the German

Along with his father and two older brothers, Rocco is a member of the Willow Road gang. Unlike his relatives, however, he has no significant standing within it. His father is the leader's right hand man. Elio is the gang's chief enforcer and negotiator. Even Bruno, despite having no official high position within Willow Road, has the loyalty and admiration of his comrades in arms. Rocco, in contrast, is a mere errand boy. With a secret.

Growing Up a Lazzaro

Family Heritage and Early Years

Since before their arrival to New Alexandria, the Lazzaro family has had a legacy of criminality. When Rocco was born, they were a declining, but still moderately influential faction within the Sicilian mafia. This changed by the time he turned 6. The Lazzaros' fall from grace culminated at about that time, with his mother having been killed in a drive-by shooting. Soon after, the remaining family was forced to flee Italy to stay alive, and New Alexandria presented itself as the most immediately available option.
Though he was originally not meant to join the family's efforts until well into his teens, its desperate situation upon arriving to the city forced him to become involved much earlier. In his pre-teens, Rocco would be used as a spy, observing and eavesdropping on Willow Road's rivals while pretending to be an ordinary child. It wasn't long until he made an error which lead to his espionage being discovered. He was cornered by a pair of Catalans and about to be kidnapped, when he made a significant discovery about himself.
He returned home that day shaken, covered in blood and bruises, and unwilling to speak about what happened. From then on he refused to continue his role as a spy, to his father's chagrin, who eventually started tasking him with only simple errands and odd jobs, at Bruno's and Elio's insistence.

Confession

I was about 8, I think. Father sent me to spy on the Catalans again. I don't really remember what exactly I was supposed to figure out, but that's not the point. I guess I was too obvious about it, or they saw me too often before, 'cause they clocked me that time. When I realised, I just went home. 'Cept they caught up to me on the way. Started shouting at me, then started beating me. I instinctively put my arms over my head, and for some reason it didn't hurt as much when they hit there. My forearms also felt weirdly heavy, and cool. At some point they took a breather from pummeling me, so I took my chance and bolted. Tried to, at least. Didn't get far before one of them grabbed me by the collar. I punched him in the stomach as he pulled me towards him, and... and there was blood. Like, a lot of it, coming out of him. I got scared and staggered back, and then even more blood poured all over me. Turns out, I had these metal sheets covering my forearms, with long spikes on each. And I buried one of them deep in that Catalan's guts. It was... disgusting to realise back then. Pretty sure I heaved a couple of times while running home. Wasn't really until the next day that I finally figured out what actually happened.

— Rocco, retelling his memory of the event to Natalia.

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Age:
15

Origin:
Italian, 1st generation immigrant

Relations and Affiliations:
Persons:
Orso Lazzaro - father
Imma Lazzaro - mother (deceased)
Elio Lazzaro - brother
Bruno Lazzaro - brother
Natalia Vorontsova - romantic interest
Cassandra Wright - acquaintance
Ronin - acquaintance

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Organisations:
Willow Road - member
The Catalans - hostile
Watering Hole - hostile

Hobbies and Interests:
Skywatching
Graffiti
Modelling
Soccer
Alt metal

What happened that day was Rocco's supernatural awakening. Many other children his age would have been giddy at the discovery, but to him, it became inseparably tied to this traumatic event. He would resolve to keep his supernaturality a secret, fearing that if anyone found out - especially his father - they would try to use it, forcing him into more situations like this.

Modest Life of an Errand Boy

Since the incident in the alley, Rocco has been keeping his head down. Though keeping it a secret, whenever he could find a moment to himself, he would experiment with his function, coming to understand it well over the years. As he matured, he also felt less and less afraid to use it when necessary, and when no one is looking. In one instance, he knocked out a rival gang member's tooth by coating his fist in metal as he punched. Still, he remained relatively insignificant within Willow Road's ranks, letting his brothers take the limelight instead.

Bonds of Brotherhood

While Rocco kept his head down, his brothers did anything but. Elio, the eldest, has always been eager to excel and to prove his value. Meanwhile Bruno, the middle brother, though not necessarily seeking respect and admiration, wasn't averse to it either, and naturally attracted it with his charisma. Despite the disparity in standing, the two always cared for their youngest brother. Perhaps, in some respect, they purposely drew attention away from Rocco and towards themselves, knowing that he didn't want it.

Elio Lazzaro

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You do what you can. That's enough.

— Elio

Elio is the most responsible of the brothers, and as such is Orso's favourite. After Rocco's incident, it was Elio's word that convinced him to relegate the boy to safer tasks. Since then, Elio has been a strict, but supportive presence in Rocco's life, understanding his fears, but pushing him to grow past them. He is aware of Rocco's supernaturality, but keeps quiet about it, even to Rocco himself.

Bruno Lazzaro

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You gotta just relax and live a little every now and again, if you don't wanna become a miserable sack a' shit.

— Bruno

In contrast to Elio, Bruno is an easygoing and free spirited person. He is a grounding, stabilising influence on Rocco, though perhaps too irresponsible. After Rocco's encounter with the Catalans, he was the one who helped him wash off the blood, and who spent time with him to soothe him and keep him sane.

In return, Rocco, too, influences them, even when none of the three brothers notice it. Though Bruno and Elio are often at each other's throats, they tend to set their differences aside for Rocco's sake. Rocco's intervention is often enough to stop most fights and arguments they get into. Sometimes, they will even work together on their own accord to do something for him.

Matters of the Heart

One such instance happened when Willow Road contracted Luna - a reasonably famous New Alexandrian bounty huntress. Upon seeing her, Rocco quickly grew infatuated with her, which his brothers noticed almost immediately. After words failed to convince Rocco to come up and talk to her, they took a more direct approach to encouraging him, giving him a literal nudge in her direction.

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Natalia Vorontsova

Don't worry, I never fall.

— Natalia

Those were her first words to Rocco, after she used her function to set herself upright when he crashed into her. Once he was done apologising and they began to really talk, it became apparent that they would have no trouble getting along. After she completed her job for Willow Road, they exchanged numbers and began hanging out whenever they both had time to spare. Though Orso disapproved at first, Elio convinced him that this relationship would end up being beneficial to Willow Road, as through Rocco they'd have an easy access to one of the more successful bounty hunters in New Alexandria. Indeed, once their relationship blossomed, Luna did offer her services to Willow Road at a discount on several occasions. Through her, Rocco also became acquainted with the most succesful bounty hunter in NA, none other than Ronin himself, as well as Cassandra Wright - a vigilante better known as Mirage. Eventually, Natalia - a supernatural herself - would become the first person that Rocco would willingly entrust with the knowledge of his own supernaturality.