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Legato lay awake at night sometimes dreaming of the impossible. Of a hand being held. Fingers running up his body and lips kissing his neck. Rather than them being from a stranger who bought his body but Knives. Knives with all his hard edges, his blunt words and summoned blades and soft hands. Knives. The man who had saved Legato, albeit on accident. The man who had named him after music and the place he came from. Knives hadn't needed to give him a name, let alone one so beautiful, yet he had. Knives hadn't needed to give him a surname, something to pass on. Legato would not pass on his name. He was the first and last of it. It was a gift he cherished but not one he would give anyone.
Legato pressed his lips together. What he would give to kiss Knives. What could he do to gain his Masters approval? He wanted Knives so badly. A horrible thought sat beneath the surface. He ignored it, it was a terrible thing. Legato thought about it though. What it would be like if he used his powers to push Knives down. If he used his powers to restrain Knives and take him for himself. No. Legato could never do that. After all he had been through, he could never push that harm onto someone else. Sure, he could and did harm humans in other ways, but to use their bodies against them? There was no need for that. It was needless suffering. Something that got under others skin and made them worse. No. Legato could never touch Knives like that, even if he thought about it sometimes.
Legato could see the way men looked at him still. Even grown, even with the skull on his shoulder, the clothes he wore and the power he wielded, men still looked at him the same. With that ravenous look, the kind that made him want to test their hearts from their ribcages and crush it before their eyes. It did cause him to kill many men. Women looked at him too now. Perhaps that was because he was grown. Still, none kept it once they spoke to him. Unlike the men, they didn't seem so keen to try and break him.
Legato rolled over in his bed. It was nice to have his own room. Isolated as it was. It was quiet. He was alone and nobody could hurt him. Nobody could love him either but more importantly, if nobody could touch Legato he could never be hurt by them again. He wasn't lonely.
Legato curled up in his bed. He wasn't a lonely.
Legato was not lonely.
~~
"Hey, Legato I got you something."
Legato looked up at Midvalley. The man sometimes had that hungry stare many other men had with him, but unlike most men, he restrained it well. "What is it?"
"It's a surprise. Open it." Midvalley held out something.
A bag, with the top covered in some sort of thin paper. Legato had never seen anything like it. He took the bag, puzzled and looked down into it. The paper obscured everything.
"Its a gift bag. You pull out the tissue paper."
"Of course." It all seemed so wasteful to Legato. This excess. He pulled out the paper. It seemed so fragile, calling it tissue paper was accurate.
Inside was some sort of creature, made of fabric. Legato pulled it out. It was a round creature probably based off something from earth. Strange. He'd seen a few children with toys like this in towns, but not when he was a child. He'd never felt any desire to even own something like this before now.
Midvalley snorted, "You like it?"
"If you weren't so useful I would have gutted you long ago. Do not make yourself less useful than the pleasure of killing you right now." Legato narrowed his eyes. Was this supposed to be some sort of joke?
"Of course not, no. Enjoy it." Midvalley was starting to make himself scarce. Whatever hunger had been in his eyes was gone. At least the man had a sense of self preservation.
Legato held the thing close. It was nice. Soft and cute. Legato took it to his room, carefully laying it on the bed. Someone must have repaired it, there was visible stitching, uneven and different from what held it all together, and one of the button eyes was completely different yet close to the same size. The thread holding it on was different as well.Someone had cared enough for this creature to repair it multiple times, despite their lack of skill. Legato could not believe that Midvalley had been the one to do this. He could only imagine this gift had to have been to make fun of him.
Legato would remember that Midvalley tried to trick him like that. Still… it was such a nice creature. He liked it. Maybe he could hold it at night. It wasn't a person. It couldn't hurt him like a man could in the night. It wouldn't cry or harm him or anything else. It was just a doll.
Legato tucked it into his bed, let it lay under the blankets with just its head poking out. It was cute. It would be here when he got back. It wasn't going to be stolen from him. Nothing had been stolen from Legato in a long time. Still, it had been a long time since he had been given a gift. The last time Legato had truly been gifted something was when Knives gave him this place to stay, and that was years ago. Legato did not trust Midvalley. Perhaps though, he would choose not to fantasize about killing him as much.
That night, despite knowing that it would still be there, Legato was relieved to see the toy sitting in his room, still tucked in his bed. He undressed in the bathroom attached to his room which had one small mirror, as he liked. The mirror was turned away from himself unless he was using it to apply the makeup he used to make himself less appealing. He hadn't seen his entire body reflected in years. Legato didn't want to see his entire body. If he did, he was sure he would vomit. If someone were to touch him and he couldn't immediately kill them for the transgression…he wasn't sure what he would do. Legato didn't want to be that vulnerable again. He couldn't be. He was stronger now. Nobody would ever touch him again. Except for perhaps Knives. Legato would welcome any touch from his beautiful Angel.
Legato got into bed in his pajamas. His room was always nice and cold, like that night he had spent going through the sands following after Knives. He still had the scar on his neck from that night. He hoped it would never leave. He sometimes dug his fingers into the wound enough to make it bleed again, just to make sure it would stay. A forever reminder of how Knives had first touched him.
Legato wanted Knives to touch him again, even if it hurt. He had thought about it a lot when he first lay in this room. How would Knives touch him? Would he be gentle? Would he scrap scars into Legato's skin? Would he hold Legato afterwards or discard him? The truth though, was that Knives didn't touch Legato at all. A puzzle. The first time that Legato wanted a man to touch him, and he didn't want to. It made him want to tie him down, to force his muscles to lay flat as Legato told Knives how much he wanted him. No.
Legato pushed his face into the toy. He didn't want to be thinking dirty thoughts like that. Not here, not now. Legato never wanted to violate anyone like that. Legato never wanted to be touched at all. His thoughts shifted as he felt the soft toy against his face. What about Midvalley? What would the man think? How would he react to Legato-
Legato let out a whine to distract himself. Something else. Other thoughts. Not this. Not again. He didn't need to ponder this night after night. What was something he could do to hurt someone? Legato knew he wasn't a good person. He killed others, he liked it. He was going to kill all of humanity. Even by humanities standards he was twisted but at least he wasn't cruel like those men. He finished the job. Legato always made sure his victims died. They would not live to see another day and ponder their lives. Sure, sometimes he played with them, especially the ones who looked upon him with lust. They never survived much longer after Legato decided to take their lives though. He made sure of it.
There were so many ways to kill a man. Of course, you could just put a gun to his head and pull the trigger, but there was so much more. He could make brothers point guns at each other. He could make friends and lovers turn against each other as much as he wanted. While Legato didn't particularly care for it, he was able to perfectly change a person's demeanor if he desired. He could control someone down to the minute twitch in the side of a mouth. It wasn't something he exercised often, he loves to see and hear men cry that they don't want this as he makes them kill each other. Still, it was useful for some things to be able to control a person so wholly.
Legato wanted to die. He really did, but as long as he was useful to Knives, he would live. No human man could kill him. No human could kill Legato. He would not allow it. In the end, he wanted to make Knives fulfill his goal before Knives killed the rest of the Gung Ho Guns, and then Legato himself.
Legato liked that thought. Being killed by Knives. The man who had saved him should be the one who killed him. He could make an exception for Vash though. Knives wanted Vash to be miserable and turn to him. If Legato could get Vash to kill him, the pacifist wouldn't know what to do with himself. Legato would be okay if Vash killed him. Still, the idea of Knives killing him with one last graceful touch, that was something Legato loved. He could imagine it well. A blade to the scar where Legato had managed to stop the knives before. Except this time, rather than saving himself, Legato would let Knives slice through his neck. Then he would be no more. No more pain. NO more harm. Just peaceful nothingness forever. Legato relished the thought. He wanted that.
Legato liked the plush Midvalley had gotten him. It was small, but it gave his arms something to do. It was soft. It didn't have a particularly strong scent either. Legato wondered where Midvalley managed to get it. Had it been from a town they had explored together? What possessed the man to pick up a child's broken plush and give it to him? Or had Midvalley purchased it. Spent his money on a little gag gift to him. That would be strange. Perhaps it was an offering to make Legato consider the hunger behind those eyes. Not a chance. Legato would not let another human, let alone a man touch him ever again. He would not let himself be harmed anymore by another human again.
Legato shoved the plush into his face. His room was less lonely like this. He liked that a lot. He wasn't lonely. Legato had a friend. It may not have been a person, but it was a friend regardless. Legato was not lonely. He did not miss the touch of people, because as long as nobody ever touched him, he could never be hurt again. Legato would not let himself be hurt ever again.
Somehow, his thoughts quieted enough for him to fall asleep, the tiny plush grasped tightly to himself. It was well and truly Legato's plush. He was never going to let anyone else touch it again. Not even Midvalley.