Title: Dress Blues (Chapter 2/?)
Author:
keeconkPairing: TaDaiki
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,974
Disclaimer: Arisa is mine~.
Summary: A life of a model is often seen as extravagant and glamour. But not many people know that a life of a model can be this epic and bizarre. What would happen if Arisa, an eighteen-years old fashion and make-up model, meet Takaki Yuya, the popular singer? The thing is, Arisa is just a stage name of a normal boy, named Arioka Daiki, who dresses up as a girl during photoshoots.
A.N.: AU setting.
Beta'ed by:
rinhriveiel.
( Chapter 1: An Epic start )-------------
Daiki had always wanted to go abroad, to a warm place that he could enjoy with his love one. He had always thought about Phuket or Bali. Hawaii was good too. He wouldn’t mind going to Okinawa either, but he really wanted somewhere out of the country. It would give some sort of different kind of satisfaction than going to some beaches in Japan.
To be honest, Daiki had been begging Inoo and Hikaru about it. They could go during the weekend or something. Just the three of them having fun. But Hikaru always gave a really lame excuse about him not having a passport, or Inoo would tell him that he hated the sun and he didn’t want to ruin his beautiful fair skin. And going with his parents were definitely not an option because it wouldn’t feel as fun as going with his two best colleagues ever.
When he thought he wouldn’t be able to get his dream holiday because of Hikaru’s and Inoo’s reluctance, it felt like dream to actually stand there, on the wooden terrace, with eyes wide open. The view before him was just too mind-blowing. The long hours on the plane felt so worth it when he got there. The sun was shining proudly, and the fresh smell of the sea was just plain soothing. He was so amazed with how different it could be there, especially to think that he was freezing like shit when he was on his way to the airport that morning. Well, it was winter in Japan after all.
“You look like some sort of idiot staring at the beach like that,” someone spoke up, bringing him back to reality.
At that instant, Daiki suddenly remembered why he was all the way south in Thailand. He suddenly remembered why he finally had the chance to taste a glimpse of Phuket’s awesomeness. Yeah, he finally got his dream holiday, but not exactly as planned. There was no Inoo, and Hikaru wasn’t there either. It was just him, and some idiot that called him 5 am the morning to dress up as Arisa, pack his bag, get his passport, and straight away go to the airport.
The fashion and make-up model turned his head, somehow not amused, as he frowned. Among all people, he would never think that he would be there, in one of the most exotic places in the world with this weird pop-rock singer, Takaki Yuya! What had he done to deserve this awkward holiday?!
“Well, this is my first time being here, so have some mercy,” he complained.
Takaki just stuck out his tongue without even turning his head to Daiki. He was sitting on the big white sofa that was set nicely in the middle of the terrace. His hair was half tied and his Ferragamo shades gave him some glamorous touch although he was only wearing normal beach shorts and t-shirt.
“And how many times should I tell you not to speak with a guy’s voice when you are dressed as Arisa?”
“For your information, since we are all the way in Thailand, I’m going to speak like this all the time and I’m going to dress as myself; like it or not. Besides those weird paparazzi wouldn’t be so crazy to follow us all the way here,” Daiki replied as he made his way back to their room.
“Well, they followed us until the airport, so I guess some of them might actually have been on the same flight as us.”
“Impossible,” Daiki insisted.
“You have no idea how crazy those paparazzi can be sometimes. They followed me all the way to New Zealand on December. I won’t be surprised if one or two are taking photos of us as we speak,” he replied calmly. “You might want to think twice before taking off that wig of yours.”
Argh!! This guy was just unbelievable! Daiki could feel his blood rush through his vein with anger. First of all, Takaki announced to the rest of the world that Arisa (his stage name) was his girlfriend. Then, he demanded Daiki to go on a “date” with him at least once a week to satisfy those paparazzi’s hunger for Takaki’s love life. Not to mention those weird random times where Takaki would just show up at his photoshoot studio, pretending to be a good boyfriend that was there to pick his girlfriend up.
It was just plain epic that he was there in Thailand at the moment. Takaki’s driver picked him up that morning after Takaki called him. Daiki literally went to the airport knowing nothing. He was so surprised when he was greeted by dazzling camera flashes when he got there. Everyone was asking him weird questions about some weird romantic holiday that he never knew of. Before he knew it, he was already on the plane, with Takaki sitting next to him.
“If you know that, why on earth would you get a cottage room with an open terrace!! I mean, even the freaking sliding doors to the terrace are glass with wooden frames! You just make it easier for them to take photos!” Daiki growled, frustrated with the fact that he couldn’t just take off his wig anytime he wanted to.
“It’s more exciting that way,” he replied, still flatly and with no expression.
“Oh God! You are a total jerk! No wonder you have to fake a relationship because apparently you can’t get a real one with that attitude of yours,” Daiki sat on the bed with a sour face.
“You know, to be honest, your real voice sounds like a duck quacking noisily. It hurts my ears,” he yawned as he stood up to stretch his tired body.
Daiki had enough. He stood up and ran to Takaki as he tackled him down to the floor. He strangled the older guy’s neck and cursed him (something that sounded like “You, son of a bitch, blackmailing me into this mess”). Yet, his effort was kind of useless because Takaki was at least ten kilograms heavier and it was just really easy for the taller guy to sit up and somehow lift Daiki, taking him back to the room.
“I wonder what kind of headline they would have for a photo of me lifting you up. Geez, you are light,” he chuckled as he put Daiki down to the ground. With a small smile on his face, Takaki gently patted Daiki’s head. “Go change into some single layer or something. It’s hot here. We’re going out. I’ll be waiting at the lobby.”
------
“Don’t you think it’s just absurd to stay in the same room with your girlfriend? Or me, to be exact. Because the public wouldn’t like the idea of a famous rock star like you sharing a room with some high-schooler,” Daiki pointed out.
Takaki almost spited out the A Pong that he was eating. Hitting his chest hard as he quickly took a sip of his cold coconut water to help him swallow the A Pong peaces that he didn't manage to chew properly, Takaki turned his head to Daiki who was sitting right next to him. They were sitting in a small food stall in Kata, one of many beautiful beaches of Phuket.
“You’re still in high school?!” he blinked.
“Duh~,” Daiki just rolled his eyes. Really, Daiki’s face was definitely not that old. It was just plain weird if Takaki didn’t notice that at all. Daiki even believed that he looked younger than his own age.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Eighteen.”
There was a sight of relief on Takaki’s face when he heard Daiki’s answer. “God. You almost give me some major heart attack. I would get into trouble if you were under eighteen.”
“Well, you should at least ask me about it first before dragging me all the way here,” Daiki frowned.
“It’s not my fault. No one knows Arisa’s age. I did some research on her, you know,” Takaki defended himself.
“That’s just so that people wouldn’t be so busy body trying to find Arisa’s school. And besides, your research would give you nothing because whatever Arisa said to the public are total lies of course. I just made them up.”
It was their second day in Phuket, and Daiki still hadn’t played on the beach just yet. He really wanted to, and he had been itchy to run to it and swim all day. But the fact that it would ruin his wig, his expensive wig that Hikaru and Inoo gave him, made him have to think twice about it. Besides, it would just be weird to wear a swimsuit because his body was not exactly slim and curvy. He was a guy, obviously. He had muscles everywhere.
The fact that he had to wear girls’ clothes all day was driving him insane as well. The hot weather wasn’t helping and the bra line was definitely hurting him. At least when he went to bed, he got to take his wig off because Takaki would close the curtain at night. Of course, it freaked him out that Takaki slept with only his boxers on and that they were sharing the same bed. He had to put a pillow in between their space because it would be just plain weird if he woke up to Takaki’s stupid face.
“What about you? How old are you?” Daiki asked at the end.
“Nineteen. Twenty, soon.”
“Aren’t you too young to be able to afford this kind of holiday?”
“Well, I was too young when I started working in this industry, so yeah, it’s not surprising if I have the money to afford all this,” he replied.
For some weird reason, Takaki didn’t sound really happy with what he just told Daiki. It could be just Daiki’s assumption, but somehow Takaki sounded tired of it. Maybe, just maybe, being famous wasn’t as nice as Daiki thought it would be. Acting up as Takaki’s girlfriend already drove him crazy with the random paparazzi ‘attacking’ him every now and then. Let alone if he were Takaki. It must be hard somehow.
“Can you surf?” Daiki asked suddenly.
“A little bit. Why?”
“Awesome!”
Screw the wig, Daiki thought. They were already there, and they should enjoy themselves instead of sitting in some random food stall eating some local food. He had enough savings to buy a new wig and he knew Inoo and Hikaru would forgive him anyway. They might go on and on for a couple of days about it, but he’d manage somehow.
Daiki stood up and quickly grabbed Takaki’s hand. Swimming would definitely damage the wig badly, so surfing was the best option he had. It would still get wet, but it wouldn’t be as bad as swimming. With his broken English, Daiki managed to get them a beach rug and a parasol (of course, he conned Takaki to pay for them). Last and not least, he rented two surfing boards.
“This is what I call a holiday!!” Daiki stood proudly, facing the sea. “I’m gonna concur you waves!!” he screamed before running towards the sea like a kid trying to catch a big fish excitedly.
He was oblivious of a sincere amused smile from Takaki. He was too excited to notice that Takaki was shaking his head lightly at his childishness. Takaki wasn’t annoyed or anything. In fact, he was kind of glad that Daiki was just too bouncy. It made his day.
------
Their wet flip-flops made some weird sounds as they walked pass the lobby in quick, small steps. Daiki couldn’t help it but giggling at those weird noises, and even Takaki looked pretty amused and was trying his best not to laugh at it. They were soaking wet. None of them brought any extra clothes to the beach, and Daiki’s sudden idea of surfing was definitely the reason behind their soggy clothes. Not to mention the fact that everyone was looking at them in annoyance.
“Your fault, dwarf,” Takaki complained, but somehow half laughing.
“Well, someone was having fun though,” Daiki giggled.
“I don’t deny that,” the older guy grinned.
Daiki quickly closed their room’s curtain once they got back in there. After making sure that all curtains were closed, the eighteen-year-old boy untied his wig and took it off right away. He could only keep his fingers crossed that it wouldn’t get damaged badly. “I need to wash this right away. And I will need to borrow your hair iron,” he mumbled before making his way to the bathroom.
He had fun. He had so much fun. Takaki was actually a good surfer, much better than Hikaru! Maybe with that wealth of his, he could afford a trainer or something. Daiki fell a couple of times, and he was grateful that his wig wasn’t the type that would just fall off of his head that easily. Although it got wet so badly, the fact that it was real hair gave Daiki some hope that it would be fine once he washed it.
“I’m taking a shower. The sea water is making my body all itchy.” Takaki entered into the bathroom as he scratched his hair.
“Suit yourself,” Daiki replied. He was already drying up his wig anyway.
“Join me?”
Daiki choked and the brush that he was using to blow dry his wig almost shagged that precious accessory of his. “What?!”
“Oh my god! You should have seen your face! Damn hilarious!” Takaki laughed out loud at Daiki’s reaction.
He swore that if only Takaki wasn’t the one that had his ticket back to Japan, he would already tie him and throw him to the sea, letting him drown and die slowly. For the past few weeks, he had learned how mischievous Takaki could get at times. He also started to notice that the sweet and gentle Takaki Yuya that everyone knew was just some spoiled selfish rich singer.
It didn’t take long for Daiki to get his turn to shower. Apparently Takaki wasn’t the type that took ages showering. The day before, the idea of sharing a room with Takaki was just absurd; but after the fun they had today, seeing the older guy with only towel wrapped around his waist wasn’t disturbing at all.
“How did you get those abs?” Takaki asked when Daiki took off his shirt, or Arisa’s shirt to be precise.
“Sit ups,” he replied. He bit his lower lip the moment he tried to take off that stupid hurting push-up bra of his. He really needed to find a more comfortable bra.
“Dude, you’d make one hell of hot guy model. Too bad you are short,” Takaki laughed.
“I know that I’m short!! If not I wouldn’t model as a girl! Now, get out!” Daiki pouted as he literally kicked Takaki out.
One thing that Daiki liked about being stuck in this whole epic role of Takaki’s girlfriend was the fact that despite being such a jerk at times, Takaki was still a nice guy. He joked around, threw weird and sarcastic comments, but nothing that would hurt Daiki’s feeling or anything. He was a little bit like Hikaru, but in a different way.
After drying his hair, Daiki crawled onto the bed and dashed down his body against the fluffy bed. He was flat on his stomach with eyes started to doze off, drifting Daiki away to dream land. It was cosy, warm, and definitely a perfect situation to make him asleep soundly. Well, at least until someone decided to just jump on the bed towards Daiki. “Ittai!”
“A.Ri.Sa~..” Takaki sang song.
“What? I was just a second away from my lala land for goodness sake!”
“Turn around.”
“Why should I?”
“Just turn around~.”
Daiki lazily turned his body around, only to find himself being pinned down in between Takaki’s legs. The older guy was in his boxers, but at least this time he had a t-shirt on. His hair was still half wet (well, Daiki kicked him out of the bathroom before he could dry his hair up), and those single lidded eyes were piercing at him.
“What?” he scowled.
“I just realised that I don’t know your real name.”
“You can just call me Arisa. I’m fine with it,” he replied lazily.
Takaki’s hands reached out to his chubby cheeks and pinched them. The pinch wasn’t hard, if was in fact really gentle. Now that was definitely creeping Daiki out. Somewhere along the line, Takaki looked like the Takaki Yuya he met for the very first time. “Oh come on. Arisa is too feminine for this boyish face,” he wheezed as he leaned down, closing the gap between them.
“Daiki,” he gulped. This kind of distance was definitely not towards the younger boy’s liking. “Arioka Daiki.”
“And how should I call you? Well, how does everyone around you call you?”
“Oh well…” he said as he turned his head side way. It was kind of hard to speak coherently with Takaki’s face only inches away from his. What had gotten into him? “D-Daiki is fine. Inoo-chan and Hikaru call me Dai-chan though.”
“Dai-chan suits you well,” he grinned.
And Daiki swore he could feel Takaki’s lips against his and his eyes widened open before they blinked. What should I do?! Push him off? Slap him? No, that would be too girly. Punch him? Yeah, yeah, that sounds better. Or…
But before Daiki had the chance to do anything about it, Takaki pulled away and lied down besides the younger boy. Eh? Now what? Daiki turned his head to Takaki with face full of questions. He was so sure that Takaki was going to do something indecent! Wait, he never knew that Takaki was into guys in the first place!
“Night, Dai-chan,” Takaki mumbled, somewhat snuggling to Daiki.
Now that was one hell of an awkward situation to be in.
------
Daiki didn’t like this. He definitely didn’t like this. He didn’t like everything about Hikaru and Inoo looking at him from head to toe. Inoo had been walking in circle, with Daiki as the centre of his little movement, observing every single inch of the younger boy’s body. Hikaru, on the other hand, was sitting on one of the common’s room’s sofas, staring at him intensely.
“Look at this. Tsk tsk tsk,” Inoo pressed his elbow against Daiki’s elbows. The older guy was fair, but Daiki wasn’t really any darker than him. But at the moment, the difference was pretty obvious. Those sunburns made his skin look so dark, especially when being compared to Inoo’s pale skin.
“I know. Disaster. He’s darker than I,” Hikaru nodded in agreement.
“Guys, I’m sorry. I’ve been saying that since I came,” Daiki sighed.
“The cheeks, Hikaru. Did you notice them? They look like roasted crabs,” Inoo continued commenting, pretty much ignoring Daiki.
“Yeah, I noticed them. How could I not notice something as awful as that?”
“This is just a disaster,” Inoo added when he folded up Daiki’s sleeves and found one third of Daiki’s arm remained fair, while from slightly above the elbow down to the finger was completely dark.
“Arisa won’t be able to wear any sleeveless clothes now,” Hikaru shook his head, faking a really disappointed look.
“She never wears anything sleeveless! My arms’ muscles are too obvious!” Daiki tried to defend himself. “And it’s winter!” he added.
“Papa, I don’t know what to do with your daughter. She’s just a really, really naughty girl,” Inoo sat besides Hikaru and dramatically rested his forehead against Hikaru’s shoulder.
“Oh mama, I told you not to spoil her, didn’t I? Sigh. Now we would have problem finding her a husband,” Hikaru shook his head and wrapped an arm around Inoo.
Daiki could only twitch his upper lip at the sight before him. It wasn’t his first time watching Hikaru and Inoo playing this whole ‘Papa-Mama’ thing, and it was definitely wasn’t his first time getting the role of the ‘daughter.’ He was the youngest among the three of them after all (not to mention the only one that cross-dressed for work).
“I’m sorry, for goodness sake. How many times should I tell you guys that? Manager-san has scolded me like hell this morning, and I don’t need some extra dramatic scene to make me feel worse,” he complained at the end.
“But look at you, Dai-chan! You’re so dark!! Oh God. What did you do in Thailand?!” Inoo rolled his eyes.
“Well, surfing.”
“For the whole weekend you were there?” asked Inoo again.
“Just for one day. We did some shopping for the rest of the weekend. Okay, not exactly some, but lots of shopping,” he replied, trying to be as honest as he can.
“What are you?! Takaki’s girlfriend?!” Hikaru crossed his arms, pretty much not amused with Daiki’s answer.
“Well, as far as I know, Arisa is his girlfriend,” Daiki replied back.
When Daiki thought his answer would just shut Hikaru and Inoo up, the two older boys were giving a look. A look that involved their eyes piercing at him and faces looked awfully interested. “Listen, dude, that’s exactly the question here. How the fuck can Arisa be his girlfriend?! You went for a photo shoot with him and the next thing we know, Arisa and Takaki are together. Does he even know that Arisa has balls?! Or a dick?!” Hikaru pointed out.
Yes, he does!!! Daiki screamed at his head, but nothing left his mouth. He couldn’t just tell them that Takaki knew about Arisa being a guy (meaning, him, of course). He definitely couldn’t just tell them that Takaki was perfectly aware that there was no Arisa to begin with. It would be just ridiculous to tell them that Arisa was then Takaki’s girlfriend because the latter caught Daiki changing. “Well, our manager said it was a good idea to rise up Arisa’s fame,” he said instead.
“But what if he touches you?! He’s definitely gonna find out that you’re a guy! I mean, I heard the two of share a room, and oh my god. What if… what if he decided to grab your ass or your boobs, I mean fake boobs, or whatever. What if he kisses you?!” Hikaru pointed out, pretty much showing Daiki that the whole idea of Arisa dating Takaki was just absurd.
The younger boy almost choked at the mention of kiss. Yeah, he definitely hadn’t forgotten the fact that Takaki kissed him when they were in Thailand. True enough, it was just a peck, and Takaki acted as if nothing happened the next day. Still, it was a kiss. And maybe another peck on his cheek when they arrived back in Japan; but it was in the airport with lots of paparazzi, so maybe it was just a stunt or something.
“Why are you so quiet?! He didn’t kiss your real, right?!” Hikaru asked at the end.
“... …”
“Oh. My. God. He. Did. Not,” Hikaru’s eyes widened open, and Inoo’s expression finally turned serious.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Inoo exclaimed.
“Just a peck. I doubt he realised it,” Daiki smiled awkwardly. “Well, it was the night after we went surfing and all. I was on the bed, half asleep, and he just kind of decided to go to sleep as well. So he gave me a peck on the lips before he lied down next to me and slept.”
There was a total horror on his friends’ faces. Hikaru looked as if he couldn’t believe what Daiki just said. All he did was lean back into the sofa and wonder off, trying to make sure that he was just delusional and that it all wasn’t real. Inoo, on the other hand, looked the most shocked. His expression was a mixture of being surprised and angry.
“You shared a bed with him?! You shared a bed with him?!” asked Inoo, somehow raising his tone a little bit as he emphasised the word ‘shared.’
“There was only one bed. I didn’t know about it at all, I swear,” Daiki replied.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! For him to only kiss you and didn’t do anything more than that one single peck was just proving how lucky you were. What if he wanted to get under your pants?”
“Well, he didn’t. Inoo-chan, you’re being paranoid.”
“I’m being realistic here. Sooner or later he will do more than just a peck on the lips. And besides, how could you let him kiss you? You better call the relationship off. And I mean it,” Inoo pierced his eyes at Daiki.
“I can’t…”
“Why not?!”
“I just can’t! Stop being paranoid, will you?!” he retorted. If only, Daiki thought, if only he could just tell Inoo that Takaki knew he was a guy, it would have been much better somehow. But he knew Inoo so well that he was so sure Inoo would tell their manager about it. His career would be over if that happened for real.
Inoo stood up, eyes still piercing intensely at him. Daiki wasn’t sure how the conversation got so serious, and it definitely didn’t put him at ease. Inoo wasn’t the type that would get angry easily. Inoo had been the one gentle friend, with occasionally some massive pranks and mischievous acts, and it was Daiki’s first time to see Inoo that angry.
“Argh. I can’t stand this shit. I’m going back,” Inoo grabbed his bag from the coffee table and stormed off to the entrance.
Turning his head to Hikaru, Daiki tried to find some sort of explanation on what Inoo just did. “What the hell is wrong with him?!”
“Well, jealousy is an ugly thing, really,” Hikaru sighed as he stood up.
“Ha?”
“I’ll talk to him. For now, get rid of those ugly sunburns,” Hikaru smiled as he patted Daiki’s shoulder before then walking out of the room to talk to Inoo.
------
“I see,” Takaki mumbled before taking a bite of his pizza.
“He’s just being so unreasonable. Worse, he hasn’t talked to me for like days!!! He would only talk to me if he really, really had to! What is he?! A girl!?” Daiki complained as he swayed his fork around, pretty much ignoring his barely touched spaghetti.
Just like any other day when the two of them were free, Daiki (or Arisa to be exact) would go on a ‘date’ with Takaki. Less paparazzi were following them, but some were definitely still taking their random photos as if waiting for some breaking news headline.
“What is this Inoo Kei guy mad about anyway?” asked Takaki at the end.
“Well, at first Hikaru and Inoo were just making fun of my sunburns and stuff. Then somewhere along the line, we started to talk about Thailand. You see, they don’t know that you know I’m a, well, you know,” Daiki whispered ‘a guy’ softly just in case someone was eavesdropping on them. “So anyway, the conversation got into the part where you kissed me, and Inoo started to freak out and somehow got angry at it. He said what if you’d try to get into my pants or whatever. I mean, it’s not that you even remember the kiss!!”
For some weird reason, Takaki choked, almost spitting out his half chewed pizza. The older guy quickly grabbed his coke and took a sip as he tried his best to swallow his food, of course, only to make it worse. Daiki rolled his eyes at his stupidity. Why would someone drink a coke when he was choking?! Daiki shoved his cold water to Takaki with a really amused expression.
“What makes you think I don’t remember the kiss?!” Takaki managed to say something after gulping almost half of Daiki’s drink.
“You remember?!”
“Duh! I wasn’t drunk or anything, you stupid.”
“Eh?! But you went to sleep right away! So I thought you kissed me in your sleep or something!”
“What?! We were talking that time, remember?! How can I have a conversation with you when I was sleeping?” Takaki rolled his eyes.
“Then why did you kiss me?!”
“A goodnight kiss?! What’s so weird about that?!”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly give just anyone a goodnight kiss. You’re weird!” Daiki scowled.
“I don’t just kiss anyone. I’m not that cheap.”
“But you kissed me!”
Scratching his head, Takaki mumbled some coherent words. Something that sounded like ‘Is he an idiot or something?’ Takaki wiped his hand with the napkin and dragged his chair closer to Daiki. His mouth was slightly pouted and he looked as if he was trying to think of the right statement to say.
“You see, Arisa is my girlfriend right?” he turned his head to Daiki.
“Well, as far as the press concerns, yeah she is.”
“So, that makes you, Arioka Daiki…” he whispered as he leaned forward, pressing his lips gently against Daiki’s “… my boyfriend.”
Daiki swore in the name of his favourite omelette rice his heart skipped a bit at the way Takaki said it. He wasn’t supposed to have butterflies on his stomach, he thought; but he definitely did. Daiki could only blink as he stared at Takaki, wasn’t really sure what to say. Not that it was his first kiss or anything, but it was definitely the first time someone kissed him so casually. No awkwardness, no blushing cheeks.
The fashion and make-up model just sat still there, in Takaki’s favourite Italian restaurant, with his heart beating fast as the older guy leaned forward again for another kiss. “So, in short, you’re not just anyone,” he mumbled before nudging his tongue against Daiki’s glossy lips as he bent over again.
Daiki hated to admit it, but he parted his lips, welcoming Takaki. And he kind of liked how it felt.
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I hope the story line doesn't move too fast. I'm planning on having more drama for this fic because University!verse was pretty much flat, natural, and no drama at all :P.
Hope you like it.