And in this corner, the classic political good old boy, the hawkish World War II hero and circumspect lawyer who gets along with everybody in Congress and has mastered the art of the political deal.

But if you expect Neil Abercrombie and Daniel Inouye to come out swinging, your thinking is a decade out of date.

As Congress convenes today for it's latest session, the intriguing and still evolving relationship between Rep. Abercrombie, the ultimate outsider, and Sen. Inouye, the ultimate insider, will once again be on display.

These two Hawaii lawmakers, so different in so many ways, have forged a bond that has grown so close that Abercrombie's political opponent last year, Orson Swindle, says it was Inouye who cost him the election.

"Without Dan Inouye, Neil Abercrombie is history," said Swindle recently, referring to Inouye's visible support for Abercrombie - including television ads the senator wrote himself - during the fall campaign.

"I think the senator felt very strongly that over the last six years, we had established a record of achievement and cooperation that he wanted to continue," said Abercrombie, asked about Inouye's support and his evolving relationship with the senator. "I think he sees me now as a partner.

"I still call him senator and he still calls me Neil," added Abercrombie. "But I have no hesitation about calling him...we genuinely like one another.

When Abercrombie first came to Washington in 1986 for a brief three-month stint, his brash style by all accounts did not sit well with Inouye, who was already the dean of Hawaii politics and a respected national figure.

"In the earliest days, we did not evolve in the same circuit," conceded Inouye. "But I think you mellow with age."

Asked which of the two had mellowed to defrost their relationship, Inouye replied, "Both."

When he first came to Washington, Abercrombie "was the really out-there, maverick, on-his-own, pushy kind of guy," recalled one isle political observer who worked here at the time. "He irritated a lot of people, including both Inouye and (Sen. Daniel) Akaka."

But since Abercrombie returned to Washington in 1990, his style has changed. Observers - and Abercrombie himself - say he is much more of a team player and a compromiser, willing to bend for the sake of the party, the state, the delegation. Those are qualities Inouye values highly.

"I'm part of a team and I try to be a team player," added Inouye. "I think the delegation as a whole is a good working unit.

"That doesn't mean we agree on every item, but one can disagree without being disagreeable."

John Radcliffe, a close Abercrombie friend for more than 20 years, says Abercrombie has become more of a diplomat than he was before. "These are two guys who started from really different persuasions, different backgrounds, different everything," he said. "But Neil's reputation for confrontation has given way to his skill at compromising."

Inouye and Abercrombie "are still so opposite it's amusing," added Radcliffe. "But they seem to really like each other. There's good chemistry."

Abercrombie said some supporters have criticized him for being too close to Inouye, a criticism that would have been ludicrous a decade ago. "I say, 'Well, we have to be,'" said Abercrombie. "With a small delegation, it's imperative that you operate as a team. I realize that."

Their partnership is perhaps most evident on military matters. Both have used their committee assignments - Inouye's as a senior member of the defense appropriations subcommittee, Abercrombie's on the National Security Committee - to funnel projects and dollars to Hawaii.

But the two share more than an eagerness to snare federal money for their home state. Politically, they are more alike than a casual observer might expect.

Recent studies of voting patterns show that Abercrombie and Inouye have similar records that put them slightly to the right of their two delegation mates, Akaka and Rep. Patsy Mink.

Last month, for example, the respected National Journal rated members on a "liberal" scale of zero to 100, with 100 being most liberal. Abercrombie received a 79.2 and Inouye an 80, while Mink scored 83.7 and Akaka 84.3.

As for Inouye, he will run what will probably be his final campaign in 1998, and observers say he would love to go out with a big win. Given his rocky relationship with Gov. Ben Cayetano, some observers say, an alliance with Abercrombie is a politically expedient move.