//////// = time skip

If I just creep down the smallest bit.

Gabriel inched forward and felt the ground sloping beneath him, as the platform of a shoulder gave way to the slippery slope of the completely vertical chest, and directly beneath the young boy, the unstable bag of cloth that was the pocket.

"Hmm, you think this would look good on me?" Seto asked, having filed through a few t-shirts and remaining on one black one. Gabriel mumbled out some kind of bored half response, gripping the fabric his father wore and biting his lip as he prepared for the final jump, he would land in the pocket and then ask for some ice-cream as a reward for his bravery and-

"Hmm, I think I'll try and find some new robes instead."

It all happened so quickly. The giant's action of hanging the shirt back up, twisting on his heel with the arm still outstretched, them dropping it without a thought, had Gabriel thrown from the shoulder, his scream caught in his throat as his lungs were crushed and stomach left far behind. His father...he walked away without noticing, supposing the child had dozed off again. A gram lighter and none the wiser as Gabriel landed hard in a pile of discarded shirts, his light weight and the thick fabric meaning he miraculously survived.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

The child caught his breath after a few tantalising seconds of being unable to even inhale, lips soundlessly mouthing cries as he saw the figure that was his dad disappear into the crowd. The crowd of giant monolithic people, shoes capable of crushing him flat stomping past without second thoughts as to who was stuck alone on the floor without his daddy. Gabriel's whole body hurt with a dull pain, his arms and legs were okay, but he whimpered and curled up knowing there was nothing he could do except lie there and cry.

"Daddy...daddy, where are you?" The child whimpered, screaming when someone brushed too close to the pile and sent him tumbling along with the fabrics, leaving him on the cold tiles and still alone. On the ground that shook with every step that anyone took. Gabriel soon realised he couldn't move from beneath the rack, because the sheer amount of foot traffic meant it was fact that he would get fatally trapped beneath a boot.

What did daddy say to do?

"I can't...I can't-"

Gabriel winced at another set of footsteps approaching along with the sound of mumbled singing, the pillar-like legs in pressed black pants settling in front of him. He backed off with a terrified squeak into the dust and dirt of the unswept tile, blocking his ears as the hangers grated along their steel runner, the giant seeming content with rearranging clothes. Another peek let Gabriel spy a bright red top above the pants, along with looming arms moving and sorting at a practised pace.

Who was he?

"Shit. Customers never learn how to hang up their clothes."The man muttered after catching sight of the pile that had saved Gabriel's life, the boots stepping towards it as the grating stopped, replaced with a hearty sigh. "Ah, can't stop yourself, Ajax."

The human fled further away as the legs bent and the rest of the giant's body came into view, a scowl on his thin features as the clothes were tucked into the crook of long and freckled arms. That's when it hit Gabriel, he must've been a worker at the clothes shop.

"See those red people, they work here. They know where all the toys are if you want to go check some out later."

A tuneful hum of the current song halted, the self-proclaimed Ajax pausing in a half-crouch, head cocked toward the sound he knows he heard. It was like the cry of a very small child, easily dismissed as the squeak of a wheel; the chirp of a far-off baby. But something told him it was more than that, and he looked down upon hearing it again.

The creature who made the sound was small, only around 2 and a half inches tall, with dirty knees and arms hugged around a frail form, hair dusty and face upturned to expose large and wet eyes. He was a human, a child.

"H-Hi..."

"C-C-Can you p-please help me?" There was an absolutely minuscule sounding sniffle, and Ajax set his hands on either side of it, a finger extended to nudge the form and watch him recoil with a push at the digit. He was real, there was a real-life child standing before him and asking for help, he wasn't going mad! Tears dripped down Gabriel's cheeks and onto the tiles without being wiped away.

"P-P-Please don't h-hurt m-m-me."

Ajax blinked a few times, his hands retreated and rested on his knees as he gave an apologetic smile.

"Oh, kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Ajax."

"I'm Gabriel. And I need to f-find my d-d-daddy Mr Ajax. I...I l-lost him." Gabriel sobbed, backing away when the hands approached a second time, because he knew that not all giants were like his daddy, not all giants were kind and wanted to help him, in fact, he /really wanted/ to have only his daddy at that moment. But he was alone and weeping in front of a total stranger.

But Ajax's thin fingers only cupped beneath his feet, hands forming a bowl that held him secure but still against the ground, not attempting to box him in at all. The towering young man gave a lopsided grin, his pale blue eyes shining as a thumb moved to rest a little awkwardly on his apparent client's back, feeling his heart skip a beat when the defenceless kid responded by whipping around and latching on, burying his face into the pale skin.

"I'll be glad to help."

"T-T-T-T-Thank y-you, Mr A-A-Ajax."

"It's just Ajax." With an attentive look conquering his features, Ajax stood and brought his hands to his chest, watching wide-eyed at the figure smaller than he'd ever seen, so dependent on him. He didn't care if people were asking for his opinion on the summer sales, this, /Gabriel/, was his priority. He'd never held a human before, never expected the slight weight the fragile figure had, or the hammering heart he could feel against his finger. But /he/ found the poor kid and would help find his father too.

"You just hold onto me and everything will be okay. We'll, we'll find him together, kid."

"Ok-kay."

"You see, we have these big speakers and they broadcast all around the store, and...

////////

"My son? Gabriel, is he here?"

Ajax perked up from behind the information desk, watching the figure fiddling with a gummy snake from between the protective walls of his crossed arms do so as well. The man had said Gabriel. He had said son. And by the way his charge hid behind his arms further only confirmed the fact; the mystery man had been found.

"Over here, sir." Ajax called, watching a taller man in a t-shirt with shoulder-length brown hair approach them, looking distressed as eyes an unnatural grey colour picked him apart. The employee only opened his arms to reveal the bashful figure, scared that he'd get scolded for running away as well as being equally excited that his father was standing before them.

"I'm so-"

"Gabriel!"

Ajax watched as his new friend was practically snatched from him, Gabriel left with the 'room' spinning as the hand squeezed him tight into his chest and fingers became unyielding forms that pinned and smothered him against his giant. The moment he was set free he was given a thorough inspection, limbs swiped over by the warm pads of fingers to check for injury, before Seto turned his back and kissed his little boy once on the head.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I wasn't thinking, and I didn't even notice and you could've been hurt, and I was panicking and looking for you and, I'm /so/ /so/ glad that you're okay and I found you. I'm so /sorry/ I left you, cap." The torrent of apologies only ceased with a sigh of burden, the child is given a much softer hug where he draped his arms partway over his father's quivering shoulder, fingers at his back only supporting his weight.

A look to Ajax had the redhead simply wave his hands in a 'go on' motion, Gabriel nodding as he was brought to face his father once more. He had to tell him, he had to say it was his fault in the first place so his daddy didn't feel so bad.

"I-It wasn't your fault, daddy. I was t-t-trying to get into your...your p-pocket so I could imp-p-press you. And I ssslipped and-d fell and-Mr Ajax f-f-found me and he was n-nice for a g-giant." Gabriel crawled forward to hug into Seto's chin, feeling the expression sitting above him shift at the new information. "He help-ped me, but it-t was all m-my fault in t-t-the first place!"

"Ajax." Was the only thing the sorcerer echoed, hand and Gabriel lowering down to chest height so the giant could march over and grab the man's hand, shaking it with genuine gratitude and feeling.

"You brought my son back to me," Seto looked down and saw his son had already latched onto him again, snuggling as he found himself at/home/ again. The lines on his hand were familiar, the way he was held was familiar, the smell of his shirt and sound of his voice were the things he'd longed for the entire time they were apart. He didn't need ice-cream now, he was perfectly fine with a father to hold him high and away from thundering feet. Where he was /safe./

"As a father, I could never thank you enough."

"All in a day's work, sir. I couldn't leave the poor kid alone when it was clear he needed his father." Ajax played the humble card, but Seto wasn't buying it and fished around in his pocket to pull out some money.

"But I have money, or I could put in a good word for you for another job. Whatever you want, just let me repay you properly for probably saving his life."

Ajax blushed and gave his trademark crooked smile, swallowing the gummy worm he'd been chewing and scratching the back of his neck. He had been meaning to find a new job at the pet shop...or maybe the daycare was still hiring.

"A reference, would /really/ do me some good, sir."

~~~

I've been so busy recently, but I hope you can enjoy this because the next prompt is RAZOR and I really don't know what to do so that isn't going to be too scary. If you have any ideas please comment, otherwise, I'll just be posting more of my one-shot/canon OC stories until I get one.

I hope you do enjoy my stories about my own characters because I feel much more comfortable writing them than IRL people or other fandoms. Doesn't mean I'll stop fan writing, but you might see more of Seto and Gabriel, alongside Kody and Fiona, and Alessandro.

Hope I can legit WRITE more for you guys!

~Tsunami