Narfi NPC - Sleipnir [Done]

Long ago the god Loki, in the form of a white mare and impregnated by the horse Svadilfari, gave birth to Sleipnir the eight-legged. When Loki reverted to his natural form he gave Sleipnir to the god Odin, announcing that the steed could carry his rider swifter than any horse, by land, sea or air and had the power to enter the land of the dead and return. This was only the beginning of Sleipnir's life. During the arc of serving as Odin's steed, the day of Ragnarök violently struck the world of the gods. Sleipnir was luckily able to escape the doomed fate of the gods of Asgard. He has been in search of his brothers ever sense.

Hisoka's observant eyes tracked Inoshi's movements. He obviously felt out of place - a shivering mess standing awkwardly in an environment he had never been in before. But why? Why was he here? And why was he acting so different? Inoshi was forced to move his long arms – being used as a make shift blanket – to catch the towel. As he did so, Hisoka’s eye subconsciously caught the outline of his flexed pectoral muscles through his shirt, revealing his nipples, erected from the cold. After realizing what he was looking at, Hisoka pulled his eyes away only to find them trailing back to the boy’s sculpted stature. Inoshi always wore form-fitted clothing - however, when soaked, this outfit appeared more like another layer of skin rather than clothing. Inoshi proceeded to place the towel beneath his feet, to clean and prevent mess. Hisoka wasn't expecting him to actually use the towel to clean the mess. He was expecting him to use it to dry himself off. He couldn't care less about the mess. It was just water. His floor had experienced worse things than water. As if second nature, the boy politely takes off his shoes stacking them neatly under the window before taking a seat on the towel. The contrast of culture between the two boys was more than obvious. Their social norms were completely opposite and it showed in both their social and physical interactions.

Hisoka listened intently, awaiting Inoshi's answer to the question that had been pondering sense the moment that he saw the drenched blonde at his window. An eagerly impatient expression painted across his flawless features. "I..." Inoshi's thick lips separated to let the small, meek word escape, but he didn't continue. His eyes wondered to the floor as he seemed to struggle to choose his next words. A cold drop of rain residue traced his jaw line as he kept his head hung and his eyes on the floor. "I came here because I had no other place to go - no other place that I wanted to go to." Hisoka's eyes narrowed and his eye brows furrowed as he listened and attempted to understand. "I came here to ask you a question, Hisoka-kun, something that I have been wondering now for a while."

A question? What could he possibly want to know? One of the many moments that the two boys shared came into his head as he scanned for possibilities. Inoshi had once taken such an interest in Hisoka’s past that he demanded information about his clan and its members. Maybe he had more questions that involved the Kuro woman. Or maybe information? No. It couldn't be that. Something much more important was eating away at him. But what? The short absence of Inoshi's voice blanketed silence over the room for a moment. Only the heavy patter of rain outside could be heard.
"Hisoka-kun... what am I to you? What do you think of me?" Inoshi’s words his Hisoka like a freight train. His expression, once tightened with confusion and suspicion, gradually loosened into shock as he listened and comprehended Inoshi's words. Only the boy’s profile was visible from Hisoka’s angle but he could still see his expression. So lost and confused. A sour feeling immediately began to flutter throughout Hisoka’s stomach as nerves began to take over his body. As Inoshi raised his head to continue, his solemn eyes locking on Hisoka's, the feeling in his stomach intensified. "When you look into my eyes, what do your mind, your body and your feelings tell you? Who am I to you?"

Inoshi's eyes screamed sadness as he spoke. His words craved some kind of assurance. Assurance that Hisoka could provide, and wanted to provide, but did not know how. He did not move a muscle and simply stared at Inoshi like a deer in head lights, attempting to fully wrap his mind around the reality of what had just happened. Another painful silence pierced the cluttered room, coaxing Hisoka to answer and pressuring him if he did not. This couldn't be a test or a game. Inoshi’s voice, his face, even the fact that he was here in Hisoka's room was enough to convince him of that. He just never expected Inoshi to ask him anything like that let alone care enough to think it. It seemed like forever before Hisoka finally broke eye contact, letting his eyes fall to the floor. The longer he waited the more the tension grew. He had to answer. But what was he supposed to say? What was Inoshi to him? He was not just another Kirigakure Shinobi that Hisoka knew. He was his rival, his teammate, his biggest source of frustration, and one of the only people that he trusted. He had seen right through every wall that Hisoka had ever built like it was nothing. He hated it. He hated that Inoshi had seen him for what he really was – every weakness and flaw, every insecurity, everything that he never wanted anyone else to see. So why was he here? Why did he want to be here? Why didn’t he hate him?

Hisoka’s eyes remained on the floor, narrowed – his eyebrows furrowed in contemplation as his thoughts struck a chord of insecurity. Almost as if it was preprogrammed, Hisoka’s mind automatically used anger as a shield. However, there was really nothing to be angry about. Inoshi had done nothing wrong; in fact he had not insulted Hisoka once and the way he looked at him and spoke to him implied understanding and honesty that he hoped for in return. So honesty is what he would give him. He would be forced to battle what his heart and mind had been conditioned to do his whole life – shut people out – but he would be honest. Because Inoshi deserved it. For whatever reason, he deserved it. “What do I think?” He repeated as if he needed to hear it again in order to respond. Hisoka’s sharp golden-yellow eyes gave away a subtle pain, poorly shrouded with false confidence and mild anger, as they darted from the floor to meet Inoshi’s once more.

There was a tamed bite to his words like there was bitterness attached to them as he spoke. “I did think that you were a self-centered, stuck-up, smart ass who thought he was so much better than everyone else." An almost playfully bitter tone peppered his words as he spat the truth at Inoshi. Then he paused, collecting himself for he what he planned to say next. His eyes began to change from the bitterness that they held before to a more genuine look. “Now…” He began, trying to hold eye contact but couldn’t help lowering them to the floor his nerves getting the best of him once again and he began to feel his checks get warmer. “Now, I think you’re a brilliant shinobi, a trustworthy teammate, and…” He paused between each compliment forcing the truth from himself with a courage that he had no idea that he had. His eyes hesitantly returned to Inoshi’s with a rare, vulnerable look, full of fear and craving acceptance before he continued. “…and the only person that I would call a friend.” Every word that he spoke came from pure honesty. No sarcasm or bitterness. Just genuine. His eyes lingered on Inoshi for a while after he finished speaking as that phrase echoed in his head.

A friend.

What seemed like minutes later, but was only seconds later Hisoka broke the silence once again. He pushed himself away from his leaning position on the wall and unfolded his arms, uncomfortably looking around the room for something else to think about or talk about. Anything else to get out of the tense and awkward situation. He then remembered the bottle of Sake sitting on the top shelf in his closet. He wasn’t sure how Inoshi would react but that made it all the more interesting to find out. “Look… Uh… I have something that might take your chills away and cheer you up a little too.” He almost sounded like an excited child showing his friend a new toy. As he spoke he walked back to the closet and reached up to the top self to grab the large bottle of Sake before turning to face Inoshi, a mischievous smirk tickling the edges of his lips. “If you’re up for it.”