#1 for Gerbil's challenge. Soren x Shinon. Thanks to Gerbil for her comments and plot ideas, and her invention of Shinon's soft side.

-----Unintentional Hurt-----

"And so, I'm starting to worry..." Stefan's voice.

"Soren...He'll cope. I have a lot of faith in him. He's strong, he'll get through it."

"Has he ever faced something like this?"

"...No."

"Exactly. It's why I'm so worried; he's never had to come to terms with something as life-changing as this. He might be better off if he'd known it all his life, but he hasn't."

"..."

Shinon, on the other side of the thin canvas wall, couldn't help overhearing the discussion. Stefan and Ike were speaking in hushed voices, but Shinon had sharp hearing. Besides, he'd heard Soren's name mentioned, and decided that if the two were discussing Soren, there might be a chance for Shinon to overhear something he wasn't supposed to.

Which he did.

The sniper felt both glad that he'd overheard and could finally hurt Soren when he wanted to, but at the same...He knew that it was a terrible thing to use against somebody, and thought that maybe he should keep it to himself...But, then again, why should he? Everyone knew Shinon's opinion of Soren; pompous and up himself, and Shinon wanted to bring him down, hurt him.

Did he want it that badly...?

The answer soon became obvious. Shinon, drunk and bad-tempered, blurted it out.

"Maybe you should just shut it! Since when did YOUR opinion count, half-breed!"

The area, at the time, fell into silence. Soren stared at him, stared with bloody eyes that were completely unreadable. Hundreds of emotions ran through the mage at that point; anger, hatred, sorrow, shock, sadness...

Shinon, even though he was drunk, cursed himself inwardly. He hadn't meant to say that at all. He vaguely registered that Stefan and Ike got up behind him. Soren looked away sharply and ran, his long, thick robes and dark hair fanning out behind him.

-----

"Soren! Oi, Soren! Fuck, where the hell've you got to...? Soren!"

Shinon trudged through the forest, his footsteps heavier than usual. His vision was going and the effects of alcohol were getting to him. He shook his head, only making his headache sharper. The headache wasn't just the ale; he had earned himself a beating from Stefan. Ike had only just managed to restrain himself, as he was Commander and couldn't afford to hit a member of his army, but then he hadn't exactly tried hard to stop Stefan.

"Soren!"

Shinon was well aware that he must look terrible; he certainly felt it. He'd been punched in the eye and already he could feel it swelling. It'd be black tomorrow.

"Where are you, Soren?"

That wasn't the only injury he'd sustained; Stefan had been furious. It had been pretty frightening; the usually-calm swordsman probably would have murdered him there and then had it not been for Ike's belated (and half-assed) attempt to restrain him.

Shinon stopped. He could have sworn he heard something.

As if the thrashing he'd received hadn't been enough, Ike had then (while holding Stefan's arms fast, pinning them behind the swordsman's back) insisted that Shinon go find Soren and apologise to him. Shinon would have refused had it not been an order-- there it was again.

"..." He listened intently.

Was Soren crying?

Shinon carried on moving, towards the sound, softening his footsteps. He was very light-footed, and so managed to keep a reasonable pace while not making a sound.

...It was definitely crying. Shinon's stomach lurched. 'Shit,' he thought 'this is bad.'

And eventually he found Soren. He peered through the dense trees and into a clearing with a single, massive tree near the edge, opposite Shinon. Soren was sitting at its base, head down on his knees. Shinon stared. The young mage was a mess. His robes were dirty from all the mud, and his pale face, when he looked up at the staring sniper, was streaked with tear tracks. His eyes were watery and his dark, glossy hair was dishevelled. Shinon felt his heart thud in his chest. Guilt?

Soren dragged his sleeve across his eyes and quickly got up, refusing to look Shinon in the eye.

"Soren!...Don't go. I need to...apologise." Shinon came closer, but Soren kept going.

"I've nothing to say to you!" Soren shouted, his voice filled with pain.

"I'm...Soren, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that, earlier." Now that he said it, he realised that he meant it. Being Branded was a horrible thing...and now that he knew, Shinon suddenly felt he understood Soren, understood why he was so blunt and depressed all the time.

"Then why DID you!" Soren cried, whirling around to face Shinon.

"..." Shinon found he couldn't answer. Why had he said it? He couldn't even think straight. The pain Soren was going through was obvious. The mage wasn't even trying to hide his tears anymore.

"You can't even give me a reason! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've got me into? I could lose my job in this company. I'll have people talking about me even more than usual. I can think of people who will want to punish me for what I am - I could be killed! And all because of your stupidity! 'Sorry' doesn't cut it!"

Shinon stared. He'd had no idea the mage was capable of shouting so loudly.

And a horrible realisation had just hit him. Soren was right - there was a possibility he could be killed. Shinon realised...He didn't want that. He really didn't.

Shinon darted after him, caught his wrist.

"Get off me!" Soren cried, but Shinon only tightened his grasp, not so much that it hurt, but still a rather substantial grip. Suddenly, inexplicably, Soren ended up with his back against the tree with Shinon standing too close for comfort.

"Soren...just listen to me. I said all that earlier because I'd had too much to drink. Stefan beat some sense into me...I'm really sorry. Honestly, if there was a way I could undo it...I know there's no way I could make it better, but...will you accept my apology?"

Soren stared at him, and saw the sincere look in his eyes, knowing that despite all of Shinon's bravado and boasting, the show he put on to make himself look tough, he had a soft side. The tears welled up in Soren's eyes again, and ran down his face. He looked away, a soft whimper emerging from his parted lips.

Shinon did something unexpected, then, in an attempt to make Soren feel better. He twined his arms around Soren's waist and pulled him close. Soren stiffened at first, in his arms, but soon relaxed when he realised he needed the contact, despite who it came from. He leant against Shinon's chest, and cried himself to sleep, the day's exhaustion catching up with him.

-----

Hours later, Shinon leant back, his head resting against the bark of the mighty tree that towered away into the sky. Soren was curled up next to him, still sound asleep, his head resting on Shinon's chest. Shinon absentmindedly stroked Soren's head, running his fingers through the dark locks.

How did they end up like this, again?

The sniper knew he was far from being forgiven, but it was a start.

-----end-----