When Knives called him in, Legato was overjoyed. To think that his master actually wanted his presence simply overwhelmed him. He didn't even bother to consider what his master wanted him for. Just the fact that he did was good enough for Legato. Especially considering the abysmal luck he and the Gun-ho-Guns had had at turning Vash's heart back to his brother's side.

Legato entered his master's room quietly, waiting for Knives to address him first. When Knives did deign to speak it always sent a shiver up Legato's spine. "Undress," Knives ordered. Unthinkingly, Legato obeyed, his clothes quickly piling up at his feet. He had long ago learned never to question his master's orders; Knives' hold on him was that strong. "On your knees." Legato dropped.

Knives' face twisted into a wry smile as he walked over to stand over his kneeling servant. He reached out one hand to gently stroke Legato's cheek. "Good dog." Legato smiled happily and leaned into the caress. The master's attention was heaven in itself but his touch? Ecstasy.

Shamelessly enjoying the moment, Legato never noticed the change in his master's mood until he crashed into the far wall, having been thrown across the room by Knives' powerful telekinesis. He weakly slid down the metal surface to his knees. To his mild surprise, instead of the hard floor, a soft cushion greeted him. A bed most likely, he decided, though he wasn't too concerned about the surface he knelt on; it was more important to focus on breathing. He wasn't even given a chance to try, as in a split second, Knives' hands were on his throat, choking him, trying to wring his life from him. Legato's hands instinctively rose to his throat, trying to remove the stranglehold.

Laughing quietly, Knives lifted Legato up off his knees and slammed him back against the wall. Robbed of his breath once again and unable to get it back, Legato scrambled desperately to get his feet underneath him, to be able to lift himself up in the hopes of having the chance to suck air back into his lungs. Knives, noticing Legato's struggles, immediately grabbed Legato's left ankle, pulling it off to the side, effectively unbalancing the man and forcing him to dangle helplessly once more.

Furious at his servant's supposedly insubordinate behavior, Knives backhanded Legato grinding out, "You will take whatever I give you. If I give you death you will accept it! You are a worm, a dog, not fit to keep my company! You don't deserve to live! Do you understand?" Legato tried to nod but he found that he couldn't, nor did he have the breath for speech. "Do you UNDERSTAND?!" Knives repeated, bouncing Legato off the wall once more before dropping him completely. Legato hurriedly nodded before falling to his hands and knees, gasping for air. He looked up as Knives forced him back to the wall.

"That's good," Knives whispered before thrusting himself viciously into Legato. Legato's eyes rolled back into his head from the pain of his muscle tearing at the invasion. He bit his lip to stop the scream that threatened in his throat. Every instinct he possessed screamed for him to lash out, to fight back but Legato overrode them. Don't fight, never fight back. Pleasure or pain, it didn't matter to him as long as it was his master's wish. By the end, he had even forced himself to smile.

After he was finished, Knives held Legato in his arms, petting him, offering him comfort. Or so Legato liked to think, or more to the point, had to think. In all actuality, Knives was stroking his left arm--Vash's arm--and to salvage what little sanity he had left, Legato couldn't let himself think of himself as a substitute. Even if was true. He didn't even have the comfort of Knives' love like Vash did. Legato hated Vash for that.

It wasn't that Knives wanted to abuse his brother like he did Legato. That only came from the frustration of having his love rejected time and time again; Legato was just a convenient target then. Afterwards, though, when Knives held Legato in his arms, that was when he would wish that Legato was Vash. That was the only thing that hurt Legato--the fact that he would always disappoint his master no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he wasn't even worthy of being a substitute.