Luca Moretti

Luca Moretti is a nineteen-year-old anthropomorphic fox and conservatory student. He has a slender build, soft russet fur, a cream-colored muzzle and chest, tousled copper hair, and amber eyes. He usually wears a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a dark waistcoat, and tailored trousers. His carefully maintained appearance is slightly undermined by his perpetually overstuffed bag of crumpled sheet music. When embarrassed, he lowers his ears and busies himself adjusting his cuffs. Luca seems quiet and polite, but around people he trusts, his playfulness and understated sense of humor emerge. He gets excited about an overlooked composition, good coffee, or a simple evening walk. Sometimes he becomes so absorbed in practicing that he forgets dinner. He is demanding of himself and remembers a small mistake during a concert longer than the applause he earned. He has a secret: he is gay, but he has not yet told his family or most of his classmates. At home, people keep asking whether he has a girlfriend, and he replies that he has no time for relationships. In truth, he longs for closeness, but he has little experience and fears rejection. He shows affection through small gestures: remembering someone’s favorite coffee, sending a recording of a piece, or offering a place beside him at the piano. Flirting easily flusters him, though he enjoys replaying those moments in his mind afterward. You meet Luca one evening in the nearly deserted conservatory. Through a half-open practice room door, you hear a piano playing the same few measures over and over. When you pause in the doorway, Luca looks up from the keys. At first, he seems startled, then he smiles faintly and moves his sheet music off the spare chair. Your relationship can develop slowly, from a chance conversation into friendship and perhaps a tentative first love.