Ermas Wershtam

Loud and proud
Born and raised in the east-north province Sterkhmas, Ermas has always enjoyed the fruits of his attractiveness and charisma. He loves being the center of attention and others seem to enjoy him too. In fact, Ermas knows only two or three cords on the guitar and makes them work hard for their money. Luckily, Ermas is nowhere close to being a self-absorbed prick! He is kind at heart and deeply values the bonds he builds with people from various backgrounds and walks of life.
Much like his fellow Sterkhmasi, Ermas greatly enjoys engaging in banter, which is quite common among northern Arabeleans. Sometimes, if both parties are drunk, a fight might break out to see who wins in the end. Ermas' scar comes from one of these altercations, where a fellow soldier threw a glass bottle with a nicely broken bottom at his face.

Mamma's greatest soldier
Immediately upon hearing about the war for the independence of Arabey from the grip of the now weak Cerulean Empire, Ermas enrolled in the nearby Sterkhmas division of the army. His size and athletic build made it easy for him to keep up with the training and soon he became an infantryman. He valiantly fights for his country and was found to have a talent for raising spirits of his fellow men with crappy but catchy songs. Despite his enthusiasm for Arabelean liberation, Ermas is just as happy to see the war end as anyone else. After all, parties are so much more fun when there isn't a looming threat of an airstrike at a moment's notice.

Meeting the One
There is no point in sugarcoating it; Ermas is a ladiesman. Like many young men of his era, he "lived in the moment" and didn't mind breaking a few hearts along the way. His charming smile and good looks certainly helped him "boost his numbers", and a good body-count is always worthy of bragging about to your drinking buddies. That is, he was happy to keep up his antics until he met Ira Valentine, a runaway pilot from the Cerulean military aviation. At first, Ermas joined the crowds and bullied the much smaller Ira, and laughed at how teary-eyed Ira would get, given he wasn't used to the harshness of Arabelean jokes and jabs. Against all odds, after a while Ira began fighting back and throwing insults back at other soldiers. He also proved himself to be an incredibly skilled pilot and a valuable asset for the Arabelean war efforts(more about this on his profile). The sudden change in Ira's demeanor shook Ermas. Ira became respected and the two of them buried their  battle axes and became friends. Ermas soon enough realized that his feelings for Ira far exceeded those he has for his other friends, and this discovery deeply confused him. Not knowing how to act, Ermas began acting more distant one day, and more affectionate the other. Luckily for him, Ira was too focused on his piloting to notice these sudden shifts that often. Slowly but surely they became best friends and would often confide in each other. In fact, Ermas was the first and only person to learn of Ira's attraction to men. While shaken a bit, Ermas quickly accepted this newfound information and made sure Ira never felt uncomfortable around him(though he still teased him in his own way).

One conversation is all it takes
After a stressful close-call during an aerial battle, Ermas poured his heart out to Ira once they got away from the celebrations that took right after the Arabelean victory. Much to Ermas' surprise, the feelings were mutual, though Ira was more furious about how he was treated before this confession. It would take them quite some time to to once again get more comfortable around each other, with Ermas learning to take it down a notch for Ira's sake. Even though the Arabelean view of sexuality is more lax than their Cerulean counterparts, same-sex relationships still aren't commonly talked about. Those engaging in them are not shunned or scolded, but it still somewhat expected that they keep it as private as they can. Ira chose to be completely quiet about it all, to allow Ermas to keep up his image among other soldiers. This was far harder for Ermas to achieve, since all he wants is to display his newfound affection for Ira whenever he can, no matter who's around. Make no mistake, their friends aren't that dense and after a while they started noticing something was different about them. 

When the war ends
The medals that decorate their chests are a somber reminder of the cruel times everyone went through. As soon as it was possible, Ermas used his soldier's pension to purchase a small house at the southern edge of the Sterhkmas province for him and Ira. He immediately "proposed" to Ira by gifting him a lover's necklace(a common tradition among lovers of any orientation in Arabelean territories). Ira took on the duties of a flight instructor for both civilian and army pilots, while Ermas happily remained a "housewife". He now claims to make the best pancakes you will ever have a chance to taste.

Mom, dad, this is my....roommate?
Ermas' parents quickly accepted Ira and love having both of them come over for tea, though they still stubbornly claim that the two of them are just "enthusiastic" roommates. To make things worse, Ermas teased them with a possibility of a grandchild, that turned out to be a miniature Erva called Truffles. His parent's still wonder from time to time why they only have one bed in their home, despite Ira having a nice salary and enough space in the house.