Eris was not born on Earth, but he spent quite a lot of his early life there. Earth is, after all, one of his universe’s biggest travel hubs, and his parents were eager for him and his siblings to experience as much from every planet as they possibly could. His home planet is pretty mild compared to Earth (most areas only have a chilly rainy and a milder dry season), but fortunately he was well-adjusted to (part of) Earth’s climate because he went there so young. He grew up in a mostly English-speaking country, so that’s the language he learned alongside his home language. He was a pretty clever kid though, so he managed to pick up bits from many other languages as well, both Earth-native and otherwise. He always visited his home planet during the summer (which usually aligned with his planet’s rainy season), and while his older siblings were always happy to go back he had only spent a couple of years there, so he wasn’t super attached. Even so, he liked the atmosphere, and enjoyed those visits.

His homeland was really big on familial bonds (blood or otherwise), so when they visited for the summer it was always to see family. However, it was awkward, since moving to Earth meant moving away from the rest of the family, and that put a bit of a strain on their bonds. Eris and his little sister were never super close with the rest of the family anyways, since they all moved right after he was born and she was born on Earth. That meant that they spent most of their vacations together, hanging out in silence while everyone else caught up. They played with their cousins sometimes, but you can only know someone so well if you spend just a few months of your life with them each year. He and his sister grew more familiar with the land itself than their family, and spent more time out in the woods than in the actual family estate. They grew closer with each other though, and while Eris says he doesn’t want to pick favorites among his siblings his little sister is totally his favorite. His older brothers are cool, but they had both spent plenty of years living on their home planet, so they never got that chance to bond over not knowing anyone.

No matter how weird things got, Eris always had a good friend to rely on. That friend’s name was Emil, although Eris liked to call them Ace for whatever reason. He probably thought their names were too similar or something. He flippantly made a promise to Ace that the two would be together forever, and while his culture back home didn’t take promises like that too seriously, Ace definitely did, and so they stuck around. Eris definitely enjoyed their company, but when he found out that the main reason Ace was always with him was because of that promise they made all those years ago, he started to feel super guilty. He may have known Ace’s language, but he didn’t understand their culture in regards to promises, and if Ace found out he had said that as a joke then things might sour between them, and he really didn’t want that to happen. Unfortunately Ace was the only person he could really go to about secrets like that, so he ended up not saying anything until around the end of his school years.

Ace didn’t take the news very well, to say the least. As Eris had feared, the two grew distant and stopped talking as often. Eris was devastated, but he knew he was at fault. But of course he was also stubborn, so he didn’t want to admit it. His little sister, who usually came to him when she had problems, noticed something was up, and made him spill his secrets. He was really reluctant to tell her, but she was relentless, so he had no choice but to tell her everything… Turns out she had a friend who hailed from the same place as Ace! Something similar had happened with that friend, for the same reason, and so she had to deal with the consequences as well. She had promised this friend to buy him a cake for his birthday, but when the day came she had totally forgotten, thus crushing the soul of her dear friend… that was a bit of an exaggeration, but he was still really sad about it. The only thing worse than making a promise half-heartedly was breaking said promise, and she had committed that grievous act. With that in mind, Eris’s sister said that Ace may have thought Eris was breaking his promise of being together forever, when in fact Eris just didn’t want Ace to be unwillingly stuck with him because of something he said in 5th grade. So, after spending a whole lot of time sulking, Eris finally went out to inform Ace of that fact.

Ace took that news even worse, because they had also been sulking, and to find out that all of that brooding was in vain was quite a shock! In the end though, they assured Eris that they had wanted to stay by his side, if they hadn’t then they wouldn’t have agreed to make such a big promise. Eris had told them that the promise was a joke right when Ace was feeling happy about how lucky they were that Eris didn’t make promises jokingly like that… so turns out it was a big misunderstanding! Their friendship had been broken, but it mended itself into an even stronger bond after that. Eris blessed his own luck, thanking the gods that Ace was still his friend after all that trouble. He vowed to be a lot more transparent with his friend then, and it seemed Ace did that same. They’re basically soulmates I guess.

Eris first heard about the ITG in high school, and he thought it was the coolest thing. He was kinda right, in some ways. The ITG is a place where travelers from other realms can come to rest, or for adventurers to submit their findings that relate to said “other realms”. If someone like Eris were to join he’d basically be free to travel all over… as long as he submitted a report at the end of the year he could basically live off of that. Eris wanted to work there, and Ace did too (although that may have just been because of their promise), it sounded like the perfect thing. However, the more he researched it, the less appealing it seemed. Many adventurers and travelers were lost, killed, or worse. Also it didn’t pay very well, it was more of a… volunteer thing, in a sense. All the funding went to expensive interdimensional travel, after all. Some donations went to the travelers themselves, but there wasn’t enough for everyone to have a living wage unfortunately. Although, the Guild would provide supplies, for what that’s worth.

But regardless! Eris was apprehensive, but not deterred. Once he finished school he went through the lengthy process of joining, much to the dismay of his little sister (she knew of how dangerous it was, and she didn’t want to lose her favorite sibling). This was during the period when Eris and Ace weren’t talking, so ace did not join alongside him. When he was finally admitted into the group he and Ace were back on speaking terms (they were back to normal, basically), but Ace still didn’t want to join the ITG. They had to care for their family, and they couldn’t do that if they died in a different universe. However, eventually they changed their mind, for reasons they refused to tell Eris, and the two formed a unit!

Even after years of traveling, Eris still isn’t completely used to it. He’s glad he has Ace by his side, but they’re only two people, there’s only so much the two of them can do. While they usually travel together, there are times when only one can go, or someone has to stay behind. They struggle without each other, but nothing terrible has happened… yet… No no I’m kidding I swear

Eris, hailing from the planet of fox people, naturally has the ability to shapeshift into a fox. This ability is tied to his tattoo, which is actually more of a weirdly intricate birthmark than an actual tattoo. If his right arm were to be cut off, or if all the skin bearing that mark was removed, he would no longer be able to transform. Don’t get any ideas though, I’m watching you… He’s more nimble and quick in his fox form, but he pays for that in braincells. He’s still sentient, and has mostly human intelligence, but he is a fox. Foxes and humans are very different. In human form, his ears and tail usually show. He has a hard time controlling them, but to be honest he prefers them over human ears because they’re more expressive..

Another thing! While not technically an “ability” per se, it has proved incredibly useful in his work at the ITG! It’s a sort of dimension-tearing knife, it’s able to bend the fabric of reality and allow for safe passage through different dimensions and universes. As long as the coordinates are properly set and he is in possession of the item, he can basically go anywhere. That’s not to say it can’t be dangerous, of course. If he loses it, or messes up the numbers, that could spell out his demise. It comes with the job though, it’s what he signed up for. Ace has something similar, although their item takes the form of bandages rather than a knife. To each their own, right?

Lastly, Eris is very skilled with languages. He’s fluent in three (his home language, Ace’s home language, and English), but he’s really good at figuring out fragments of other languages. For instance, if he knows a bit of one language, he can piece together enough to converse with someone who speaks in a language similar to the one he knows a bit of. It’s a bit difficult with languages of other (especially unfamiliar) dimensions, as he doesn’t know the context of the worlds and whatnot, but it’s still an incredibly useful skill for a traveler like him to have. I’m jealous~