Kalani Mahi'ai

Leo's Beau haha

28

Male

5'9"

125 lbs.

Straight posture, lanky and lean, thin ankles and wrists. Compact waist.

Black

Barely goes past his chin, still he keeps it in a small ponytail most of the time, some of the shorter strands curtaining his face.

Human; Pacific Islander.

Bronzed

Light grey

Has a lip piercing. Very straight nose, more on the flat side. Nimble and long fingers.
Has a (secret) tattoo he got (secretly) without his parents knowing, on his bicep, "reach for the heavens" written in Hawaiian, boxed in by very detailed begonias.

Anxiety (GAD), but Kalani doesn't consider it serious enough for him to take medication (his panic attacks, while not too common, would beg to differ).

Works well under pressure, but gets flustered when someone he respects or admires purposefully puts him on the spot. Wrings his hands when he's upset. Uses his tongue and teeth to fiddle with his lip piercing when he's nervous.

Get. away. from. parents. please.
School is hell, please just let him graduate with that PhD and be done with it, he's sick of school.

Has a horrible complex surrounding money, and not working for your money; founded in his own internalized self-loathing about his parents' wealth and how lucky he's been in life because of it.

Can be uptight; indecisive, is scared to take risks. A bit of a pushover sometimes, especially if he's intimidated by you. Tries very hard to come off professional and dependable, but instead may seem too straight-laced and stiff-mannered, something he'd be embarrassed to hear if you told him.
Doesn't talk about his feelings?? Becasue if people aren't asking then they probably don't care/don't wanna know right?? And even if they do ask "how are you" that's just a standard greeting, it doesn't actually mean anything??? He'll just drown in his internalized shit, thanks.

Keeping a cool head during an emergency. Trilingual.

Crossword puzzles, reading poetry and non-fiction, taking time to sit by a nice view, drink tea and do NOTHING.

Respectful and logical, Kalani gives the impression of being wise beyond his years. That being said, he is a Very Nervous Man in his day-to-day life, and enjoys the weird sort of calm that overtakes him when he's in a serious or dire situation, like having someone else's life in his hand: not because he likes the danger, or someone's critical health situation, but because it's moments like these where he actually knows what to do, because it's all protocol and method and technique and quick work and thinking.
Ambitious in a purely theoretical way: has always wanted to get somewhere high in life, but without the added baggage of fame, or glory, or betrayal in regards to coworkers for the sake of a job. He's always been under a lot of pressure from his parents and believes one misstep could ruin a lot of things, and so is incredibly careful and pragmatic with his decisions. He's someone who likes to move slow, to take his time with things and sift through every small detail, get all the information before coming to a concrete conclusion. He secretly looks forward to moving out and making his own living, because he will no longer be under the constant watch of his parents.
He's very proud of his independent nature at most times, but is aware that his parents' money is a huge factor to why he's gotten so far in life, and is grateful but also anxious to distance himself, to make his own connections and be fully responsible for his livelihood.

Is going to be a doctor soon! Currently finishing med school. Works as a Nursing Assistant when he can at the local hospital.

Buddhist father and Catholic mother: Kalani is more agnostic than anything but he does have a good understanding of deeper truths and morals from both sides.

Amuse-bouches, fancy little appetizers that you can eat by the dozens.

Cobalt blue.

Dragonflies

October 2. Libra.

Parents put a lot of money into his education, went to private school and everything. Currently finishing med school.

Kalani is close to his parents, but feels overshadowed often and is very aware of their overprotective and controlling natures in regards to raising him, and helping him achieve his goals. The problem is that Kalani doesn't want their help, not this much: he feels that if he doesn't get it on his own, then there's no point, no satisfaction in the victory. This has created an added layer of stress to how he interacts with his parents: he's always been easy to coerce, or to convince, and allowing his parents to get away with that is something that chips away heavily at Kalani's self-esteem and sentiment of independence. However, turning them away completely is something he knows will damage his relationship with them, and it's not a support system he's completely willing to lose.

• Was with Ellie for three years. She was his first girlfriend, someone he met in his last year of Bachelor studies and who he started dating quicker than he would have liked, before he really had a chance to examine his feelings for her: she was insistent, playfully asserting that she could tell he liked her. Kalani easily let her take full reigns of the relationship, because he was inexperienced and had no idea how to proceed and he liked her, he could say this confidently after three months with her. He liked pleasing her, liked that she knew what she wanted and, from his perspective, communicated these desires clearly to him. For their Master's degrees they ended up at universities only an hour's drive apart, something Kalani was ecstatic about but that he noticed Ellie wasn't too pleased with. He tried to console her, but Ellie obviously thought they were too far: she lamented that they would never see each other, that they would grow distant, even insinuated that he might cheat on her. The obvious solution was to move in together, Ellie insisted. Kalani wasn't immediately comfortable with that idea, wasn't comfortable with it when she kept bringing it up, wasn't comfortable when he finally agreed, wasn't comfortable when they moved into an apartment ten minutes from her university and an hour from his. She would be very curious about any friends he made at school, and would take him out on dates constantly, would make him cancel plans with others. She'd ask, very kindly, to see his phone, "just to feel secure", would keep tabs on who he was hanging out with, what classes he had when. The first time she slapped him was when he refused, for the first time in their relationship, to cancel plans for her. She slapped him and then she cried, she cried so much, telling him how insecure she felt, how she never saw him anymore, how sometimes she felt like he was avoiding her on purpose. This vulnerability she was showing equated to trust, for both of them. And that's how the cycle continued, to the point where Kalani's grades were dropping because of Ellie, he had no friends, he was barely talking to his parents, doing nothing but driving back and forth between classes and Ellie. Ellie Ellie Ellie, always Ellie, always making sure Ellie was happy, making sure she was the only thing in Kalani's life. Except she was barely ever happy anyway, and Kalani tried breaking up with her once, twice, a third time, because he was unhappy goddammit, and he was sick of it and sick of this, but she just yelled and cried and threatened to hurt herself, blamed him for her unhappiness, told him he could never survive without her anyway, that he'd never be happy because he's a friendless loser who's barely keeping his grades up and he NEEDS her. Kalani failed an exam for the first time in is life: he broke up with Ellie over the phone, had someone else go pick up his things from her apartment, and hasn't been in a relationship since.

Questioning. Has some heavily internalized biphobia to go with it.

Sometimes, in his lowest moments, thinks he's "broken" because he doesn't get simple crushes, because he's uncomfortable with dating someone he doesn't know or isn't at least friends with, because he's only ever been in a single relationship and that was a complete failure.

• Button-ups with rolled up sleeves and the first couple of buttons undone, khakis, brown and blue color scheme. Mismatched socks, and cardigan untucked (and optional).


• Gold wristwatch, business suits with purple silk ties, trench coats.


• Dresses "like an uptight mess of a rich boy" (-Leo)

• 
  Noah Araullo : Kalani quickly became close to Noah upon their initial meeting, and after a chance second encounter started meeting up with him more often, as Noah invited him to parties and included him in group hangouts with the rest of UMa. They have an easy relationship founded on harmless jokes, similar nervous energy and the occasional free tickets to shows for Kalani's friends and coworkers, who are big fans of the group's music.


• 
  Leo Mun: Kalani pegs Leo as the reserved, quiet and serious type, and initially knows him the least well out of the UMa boys. So when Leo hits on him it throws Kalani for a loop ("when did he have time????? to be attracted to me?????"), and though he is quick to gently turn Leo down, he makes an effort to remain in contact, because he barely knows the guy goddamn and he's not about to come off homophobic. He likes Leo a lot more when he gets to know him: snarky and blunt and even sweet, sometimes, in a subtle way that you could miss if you blinked too long. And Leo hasn't once tried to hit on him again, has kept his hands to himself, has remained very respectful of Kalani and his personal space. But the fact that Leo did hit on him stays in Kalani's mind, and pops up inconveniently when he's checking the Ursa Major Twitter updates (because he's a supportive friend) and a picture of Leo from a photo-shoot pops up to stare coolly at Kalani from his screen. Currently re-evaluating A SHIT TON of feelings and unwelcome thoughts that are much more than platonic.