Work Text:
She's not going to give up, Penelo tells herself. She's not going to be afraid. If she tells herself often enough it'll stick. This isn't the first time she's faced trouble and come out okay. Of course, when she lost her parents, Migelo was there, and --
But she's not alone this time, either. Or she won't be. The bangaa said that Balthier's ship was heading this way, and that means Balthier got out of prison, and Vaan was with him, so maybe -- no, probably Vaan got out, too. Balthier's a pirate, even if he's a really charming one, and he doesn't know her well enough to risk his life for her sake if there isn't somebody really persistent pushing him to do it. And Vaan's -- well, "really persistent" is a more flattering way of saying it than she usually does, but. It still counts.
Penelo shifts awkwardly, trying to find some way to sit that isn't uncomfortable. It would be better, of course, if she could get free without Vaan having to come after her at all -- he might be able to hold his own with the wolves outside the gates, and taking on those first couple marks has been really going to his head, but these guys are serious. She doesn't want to see him get hurt, and she doesn't want him lording it over her that he saved her, if it works out.
The shackles the bangaa put on her are pretty solid, though, and getting them to unlock means reaching into the mechanism on one end, which she can't really do when her hands are trapped in the middle. Even if she could sneak past the bounty hunters with them still on, she doesn't think she wants to -- if she gets cornered by anything in the mines, she'll need her hands free to fight. So that's the first step in her escape plan, she decides: get out of the stupid shackles.
She climbs to her feet -- no reason to put herself at more of a disadvantage, right? -- and uses her shackles to bang on the wall of the cave. Little sparks ping off the magicite in the wall, and the sound echoes, loud and hollow. Penelo holds her breath, listening for movement in the tunnel.
It doesn't take long before she hears it, the creak of leather and the hissing slide of a tail dragging along the stone. The bangaa that stops in the doorway is the leader, the green one. Ba'gamnan. Penelo remembers someone telling her when she was little that you can tell the temperament of a bangaa by the color of his hide, but she can't remember how the colors and humours matched up, and anyway, all the bounty hunters are different colors but the same kind of nasty.
"Lonely in here by yourself, girl?" Ba'gamnan says.
"No," Penelo says sharply. She looks him in the face even though she knows how bad bangaa eyesight is -- Migelo can't always read her expressions from closer up and in better light than this. "I want these off." She holds out her hands. "So I can relieve myself."
Ba'gamnan tosses his head, and snorts. "How's that bit of stitching come open, then? I'd sooner take it off you myself than risk you bolting the second I set you free."
Penelo blushes hot. "Don't touch me," she says.
"Now, I'm just thinking of your own safety," Ba'gamnan answers, swaggering closer. He looms over her, easily three times her size, broad muscular shoulders and long arms tracked with scars. "Who knows what sort of nasties might find you, running around the mines alone?"
"They can't be worse than you," Penelo says. "Pervert."
Ba'gamnan laughs. "Sticks and stones, darling." He leans down, so he's speaking right into her ear, so she can see the fine texture of the scales on the flaps of his ear. "And I'll have you know I've never had a girl who complained about it the second time."
"Hume girls?" Penelo asks, and instantly wishes she hadn't.
"Some of them," Ba'gamnan says. "The thing about hume girls is you're so soft, and so small." He puts a hand on her arm, cool and dry. She takes a step backward without meaning to. He follows. "A man's got to be careful, with a sweet little thing like you."
This isn't going anywhere good, but Penelo's not sure how to head it off, when Ba'gamnan is backing her up against the wall, nostrils flaring like he's scenting prey. "And if a girl says no the first time?" Her voice shakes. She wishes it wouldn't.
"Don't be like that," Ba'gamnan says. His teeth catch at her throat for just a second, nipping, little needle sharp points. "You've got me all curious, girl. What is it about you that's got Balthier's attention? What is it you been giving him?"
"Nothing," Penelo says, too exasperated to be afraid for a moment. "He hasn't even touched me."
Ba'gamnan pauses, head cocked to one side. "Oh, hasn't he?" He reaches down, so the hand not holding her arm pushes between her thighs. "I'm the first one to the prize, am I?"
"You're awful," Penelo says. "Stop it." There aren't many ways she can move, to try to get away -- when she squirms he just moves with her, so she's up on her toes and scarcely balancing and his hand's still there, cupping her mound, thick fingers flexing. She tries to hit him with her shackles, but he just grunts, and lets go of her arm to grab the shackles and haul them up over her head. It'd be hard to keep fighting like this, stretched out against the wall with most of her weight born up by Ba'gamnan's hand between her legs. Time to change tactics, then.
"There's a sweet girl," Ba'gamnan says, when she stops struggling. His fingers tighten, and she shivers despite herself at the pressure. "Now, you were going to tell me how to get into this fine set of leathers, weren't you?"
If she cooperates with him, maybe he'll let his guard down, and then she -- she -- well, she'll figure out what to do with the opportunity once she has it. "There are snaps," she says. "In the seam there."
"Clever," Ba'gamnan says, and she can't tell if he's mocking or not. His claws catch in the seam and pull, and she has one awful moment of picturing him pushing those sharp claws into her -- but he laughs when she goes tense. "What are you panicking for? Told you, I know how to be careful with hume girls."
The flat pads of his fingers press against her, no rougher than her own feel when she touches herself, and the long ropy muscle of his forearm flexes with the tiny strokes he makes. Penelo's breath hitches, and she tries not to make any noise. She wouldn't want him to think she's grateful for this, when he's -- he's licking the shell of her ear, nipping deliberately, making this low pleased noise that really shouldn't make her feel warm. Or shivery. Or like --
"Like this," she says, before she can help herself, rolling her hips in a little circle so he'll put more pressure where she likes it, instead of further back where it pinches sometimes.
"Pushy little thing, aren't you?" Ba'gamnan asks. He sounds amused. "Might make a good sky pirate yourself."
"Would not," Penelo says. It's funny; she's had that argument with Vaan plenty of times, though never in a situation like this.
Ba'gamnan nips at her jawline. "Shame," he says. "I'd like to be the hunter after you."
She should have a sharp answer for him, should tell him where he can shove that idea, but the best she can manage with the way he's stroking her is, "That's not what you're, ah, doing already?"
"Hah! Only the best hunts end up like this," Ba'gamnan says, and Penelo is distracted momentarily with the image of him pinning Balthier to a wall like this, which makes her cheeks hot again and also makes her forget to keep her guard up and it seems like it's only a moment after that before she's shaking and whimpering and seeing bright bursts of color behind her eyes.
Her chest heaves with her breathing, and her legs feel shaky. Even when Ba'gamnan lets her down, and his grip on her relaxes, she doesn't think she'd be in any shape to run just now.
Ba'gamnan's tail lashes slowly, like he's pleased with himself, as he eases his hand from between her legs. "And the other thing I like so much about hume girls," he says, lifting his hand, his tongue lolling out of his mouth to lick her fluids from his fingers. "You taste so good."
Penelo tries to swallow a whimper. She finds herself watching the way his tongue ring catches the light as he licks his fingers clean.
"First time, girl?" Ba'gamnan asks, tilting his head in a way that could be either curious or smug, she's not sure.
"With a bangaa," she shoots back. She's not that inexperienced, even if there are some things she hasn't done.
He tosses his head again, which she's starting to think he does when a hume would smirk. "Well, then," he says. "Sounds like there are a few more things for me to show you, mm?" He scruffs her like she's a kitten, thick stubby fingers wrapped around the nape of her neck, and pushes her down until she has to bend her knees. She's not sure about this, but he doesn't do what she's afraid he will -- instead he gets down on the floor with her, laying her out on her back with her arms stretched up above her head.
"I don't suppose I could convince you I've had all I can take," she tries. He's being so careful with her, bracing his weight on his hands so that when he leans over her, she's not crushed under his weight.
Ba'gamnan laughs. "I've never had a girl who couldn't give it up for me more than once," he says, "with a little convincing."
She doesn't want convincing, Penelo thinks. She wants to get free. It would be one thing if they were doing this for fun and it had been her idea, and -- well, not that she's really thought about doing things like this with bangaa before, but. It's the principle of the thing.
He kneels between her legs, pressing her knees apart, leaning in close. He's probably not but it feels like he's staring, and she blushes anyway, and he breathes in deep and growls with pleasure. "Nothing quite like the sweetness of hume cunt," he says.
Penelo squirms. "You have a lot to compare with?" She needs to stop encouraging him.
"You could say that," he answers. He licks the inside of her thigh, and then nips, probably just to make her flinch. "Sense of adventure serves you well in this line of work. Just ask Balthier."
She's not sure she even wants to know what he means by that, but he doesn't seem to want to keep talking anyway. He leans down, instead, and licks a slow swipe between her legs, his tongue almost too rough against her folds. She shivers, and squirms, and he pushes her knees farther apart as he licks her again. It feels like he's lapping up the fluids from her climax, tasting her, and -- and then he presses the tip of that long, agile tongue into her, and it's the shock at how good that feels that makes her moan.
Ba'gamnan sits back on his haunches. "Quiet, now, little girl," he says. "You don't want my brothers to come see what the trouble is. I told them you were off-limits, and if they see me breaking the rules, they'll want to take a share for themselves."
Penelo shudders. "One of you is more than enough," she says. Her thighs are trembling from being pressed so far.
"You say that now," Ba'gamnan says. He sounds like he's teasing, or at least she hopes so. "Might be surprised what you can get used to."
She'd argue that point -- she would not be surprised; she's not some fainting flower like he seems to think she is -- except that he leans down and starts to lick her again, his tongue curling and flickering, pressing into her deep enough for her to feel the ring and then pulling back to trace her folds. He alternates between the one and the other, teasing, not giving her quite enough either way until she's squirming out of pure frustration, her breath coming in sharp little huffs.
"Come on," she says, when squirming doesn't help. "You know what you're doing. Stop being such a prick."
Ba'gamnan nips her thigh again. It's sort of affectionate, she thinks. Friendly. "Oh, so you haven't had all you can take, is that it?"
"No," Penelo says sharply. If he laughs at her, she decides, she'll kick him in the head, despite what a bad idea it is.
But he doesn't laugh, just lowers his head again and flicks his tongue against the nub in the center of her folds, light fast strokes that feel like tiny jolts of lightning humming outward from that spot and down her limbs. Her breath catches, her eyes squeezed shut as she feels herself get closer -- he's relentless, totally focused now, and this time when her climax hits it's just as she remembers the way he purred at the idea of hunting her down -- and she has to turn her head, has to bite the leather edge of her shoulder brace just to keep quiet.
"That's my lovely girl," Ba'gamnan says, sitting back, stroking her thighs. "No wonder he likes you."
"Do you ever stop thinking about Balthier?" Penelo asks. A girl could start to feel slighted, like this. Not that she cares about his attention.
Ba'gamnan's ears flap as he tosses his head. "Feeling jealous?" he asks. He reaches for the sash at his waist. "Don't worry. This is all for you."
Penelo stares. Mostly she's always figured that the differences between the races were pretty superficial, that they were all built more or less the same. But Ba'gamnan has -- bangaa have -- two cocks, not smooth like a hume's but bright flushed pink and textured. He wraps his hand around the base, below the split, and strokes so the heads rub together.
"Coeurl got your tongue?" he leers. She can't look away. "Don't panic, girl, I know you're not built to take them both in that sweet little cunt of yours at the same time."
"Even just one," Penelo protests. She'd never planned on doing this the first time in a situation like this, for so many reasons -- she'd always figured it would be something she chose, that she'd be able to do it somewhere comfortable, that her partner would be someone she knew well and hume besides.
"Don't get stubborn now," Ba'gamnan says, unbuckling the straps around her thighs, pushing her jumpsuit up around her hips. He rolls her over easily, wraps his hands around her hips to pull her up onto her knees. "I gave you plenty, and now I'm going to have mine."
Penelo clenches her fists as she feels him press up against her. She's not going to tell him he's her first. He doesn't deserve to know.
He has one of them lined up against her, and he pushes, and she's heard it's supposed to hurt the first time, but it doesn't really -- he feels big, thick and hard in a way that fingers aren't, and it's weird the way the other one rubs against her, pinned between her ass and his stomach, but it doesn't hurt. She doesn't make any noise, won't give him the satisfaction, but she hears him hiss as he pushes it all the way in.
"Sweet little girl," he says, and rocks inside her, pushing forward so her weight shifts onto her elbows. "So slick and warm, so tight. Fills you right up, doesn't it?"
"Not going to f-flatter you," Penelo retorts, though she'll admit the effect would be better if she weren't stammering. This hasn't been the best escape plan so far.
"That's all right," Ba'gamnan says. He takes her slowly, hard, like he plans on drawing this out. "I don't need to be talked up to it. A nice hot little hole like this will take care of me just fine."
She doesn't call him a bastard, because he'd probably laugh, but she thinks it really loudly. He moves rhythmically, like he really does know what he's doing, and the texture rubbing against her is weird but not bad, and she thinks she could probably really like this if she wanted it, and that just makes her more annoyed. His second shaft slides between the cheeks of her ass as he thrusts, just enough pressure to make her aware of it, there where the skin is thin and sensitive. That makes it weirder, makes her feel a little squirmy and nervous all over again.
Ba'gamnan tilts his hips, changing the way he's thrusting so he's nudging against her harder there, like he wants to have her that way too. "No you don't," Penelo says, struggling, trying to pull away from him. She knows that would hurt. "Don't you dare try that without even any oil."
Oops.
"Know how that's done, do you?" Ba'gamnan asks. His hands spread her, one claw tracing slowly up the crease. "Been letting your hume boyfriends fuck your tight little ass?"
He makes it sound so awful. "None of your business." She's only done it a few times, and it's not like she's been messing around with just anyone. It's an easier way to be safe than buying expensive charms, that's all.
His claws keep teasing, or maybe threatening, she's not sure. "Well, since you're such an expert, girl, why don't you do the honors?" He leans forward, his body heavy over hers, and reaches down to press the release catch for her shackles.
Finally. Only this is hardly the ideal position for getting free, pinned under Ba'gamnan with him already inside her -- with his hand closing around one of her wrists to pull her hand back behind her.
"Right there," he says, "and here's some slick for you." The ointment he smears on her fingers is thick and heavy, oily, and the air smells like crushed herbs.
"You want me to," Penelo starts, and then stops, because volunteering information hasn't really gone so well up to now.
Ba'gamnan makes one of those low rumbling sounds that seem to mean he's pleased. "I want you to get me slick enough to get a cock up your sweet ass," he says. "You want to stretch it out for me first, that's your business."
She'd curse him if she could think of any curses nasty enough, she thinks. Thank gods he's willing to give her enough options so she won't really get hurt, and willing to keep the others off her -- and curse him at the same time for not just leaving her alone. She pushes, two fingers, and her cheeks burn at the satisfied hiss he makes. It's always a tight fit to get something in there, but especially now -- it feels like there's no space at all, like she can feel him inside her, too, pressing against her knuckles through a thin wall of flesh.
"You can't," she says. "There's no way you can fit both of them in me."
Ba'gamnan laughs, stroking her hip, petting her. "Oh, they'll fit, girl. I might be your first bangaa, but you're far from my first hume. You're soft, but you're tougher than you look." He sounds almost admiring, ridiculous as that is.
Penelo rocks back onto her hand and his shaft, trying to keep her breathing slow, trying to make herself relax. It's a good thing she's naturally flexible, or this would really be awful. It's already going to be enough of a pain. But she's not doing this for fun anyway, right? She's just looking for an opportunity. By now it seems like her best chance will be after he's done.
So she slides her fingers out and catches the textured length of his second shaft instead. The angle is awkward, makes her wrist ache, but she gives him a few hard strokes to smear the ointment around anyway, and he hisses. "Go on, you selfish bastard," she says.
"Gladly, darling," Ba'gamnan says. He has to pull the other one out almost all the way to line up, and then he pushes them both in at once, and Penelo braces both hands against the cave floor and pushes back as best she can, and it's too much, gods is it ever, but she can take it -- because really, what else is she supposed to do? Her breathing is shaky and she has to keep thinking about relaxing, about moving with him instead of resisting so she won't get hurt. His hands curl around her hips, claws digging bluntly into her skin, and his shafts rub against each other inside her. He moves slowly, at least -- there's not room enough for much else, the way he stretches her tight, the way he fills her up. She feels swollen, tender, like she almost can't stand it but -- but it's not bad, not entirely, and she thinks if she wanted to she could probably get used to this enough to work her way to another climax.
But she doesn't want to flatter the bastard, and she doesn't want to waste her energy. The plan is for her to get out of here, after all. She can see her dagger and her supply pouch, in a little pile by the door. They'd be easy to reach if Ba'gamnan would just get off her, and she's still dressed enough to run if she has to, and -- well, then she'll have to make it past the others, but she's fast and small and if she can dodge werewolves in Giza with Vaan then she should be able to outrun a crew of bangaa who'll be tripping on each other's tails in close quarters like this. Penelo grits her teeth and hangs on, rocking back into Ba'gamnan's thrusts, trying to get him to hurry up.
"There you go, girl," he says, rocking steadily, sounding way too pleased with himself. "Knew you'd come around."
"You think too much of yourself," Penelo says, and then cuts herself off -- let him get his guard down, right? Fight less.
He only laughs, though, not like he's gloating but like he's honestly having a good time. "I like your spirit, girl," he says, thrusting so deep she feels like he might split her in half. "Might take you with us if we didn't have so much work to do."
"I'd --" Penelo starts, and catches herself in time, for once, so she doesn't quite say I'd never stay with you. The words turn into a little whimper when she swallows them, and Ba'gamnan hisses in response, so she does it again, just to see if it'll get to him.
"Can't resist it, can you?" he says, in this voice that would sound smug if he weren't getting breathless. "Don't stop that, girl."
Penelo bites her tongue, clenches her fists so her nails dig into her palms. She's not going to argue now, not yet, no matter how badly he needs to be taken down a peg. It's more important to get away. It is. And he's falling for it, too -- his hands clutch at her hips in a needy, rhythmic grip, and he's hissing as he thrusts, a raw open-mouthed sound like he's almost lost control. It makes her want to hit him again, but she's pretty sure that she has him figured out now -- she raises the pitch of her voice a little, tries to make herself sound more like she's helpless, and that does the trick, makes him growl and shudder and push and then pulse inside her and mostly she's thinking finally but also a little bit yuck.
He doesn't pull out right away, either, and Penelo's trying not to get too impatient, trying to keep herself from complaining. She feels shaky, and there's this pins-and-needles feeling in her hands that isn't going to help her out at all, and -- "Come on," she says. "You're heavy."
Ba'gamnan laughs. "Too much for you now, is it?" He rocks back, and Penelo flinches at the burn as he pulls out -- but he's let go of her at last, thank gods. "Ah, but you had a good time."
When she looks back, he's reaching for the shackles again, like she's going to wait for that to happen. She gets her feet under her and pushes off, snatching up her gear and bolting before Ba'gamnan can get up.
"Hey!" he calls, sharp and loud, and the sound echoes down the tunnel. Penelo flinches, but she doesn't stop. The straps of her bodysuit hang loose around her waist, swinging, smacking against her skin as she runs. The tunnel splits up ahead, and she can hear answering noise, the clang of steel on stone and the voices of the other bangaa calling to Ba'gamnan, asking what's wrong.
The voices are coming from the left branch, so Penelo takes the right. Her heart pounds and her lungs burn. The right path takes her to an open span, a long exposed stretch where daylight shines in on either side of the path, and she crosses without stopping, dodging when piles of bones on the floor start to shift and rise. At the end of the span she stops, gasping for breath, looking back to see if they're pursuing.
Two of them reach the head of the span, stepping out into the light, and Penelo ducks behind a pillar. "No time," she hears, just barely, and one of them hits the other. "It's no good following her, if we're not back to spring the trap!"
"She'll not last long down that way in any case," the other -- the female, it turns out -- says. "The skeletons will finish what brother began." She turns, and both of the bangaa head back into the dark, tails lashing.
Penelo lets out a sigh of relief, and glares after them. The skeletons aren't going to finish anything, if she has any say in the matter. She tugs her bodysuit down where it belongs, buckling the straps around her legs, pressing the snaps together. She feels gross, sore and sticky, but she'll worry about that later.
Right now, she needs to get out of here. Then she can think about getting comfortable. A long hot bath, she decides as she draws her dagger, sounds like the perfect reward for getting out of trouble on her own.