Johnny feels the vague vibration of contact made, trembling, shuddering up the tentacle wrapped around his arms, and though he desperately doesn't want to look down, he does.

"What's happening?" Nova asks fearfully, curled tightly against his chest, he can feel her little heart hammering away just like his own. She's scared and he can feel it sharpened to a point, because they both know what's going to happen, he's going to die, again, it's happened so many times he should be fucking used to it by now, but he never is, and he doesn't want it to happen like this, not with her on the outside, vulnerable.

Seeing Mako ram her tiny body into the monster is - something. Not really heartening. He's too numb with terror to have a real reaction.

"She's... trying to save us," he says slowly, like he doesn't understand.

"What?!" squeaks Nova. "Why?"

Well at least she gets it.

"Mako-!" he tries to call, it's not worth it, jesus christ, just run but the tension in the beast's shivering limbs keeps him from getting any further, tightening around him as Mako punches it again or whatever the fuck she's doing; the rest of the sentence comes out a strained groan.

"Johnny!" Relatively safe under his arms, Nova paws at him insistently. "Don't struggle, dumbass! Play dead!"

"Oh yeah great fucking idea," he says thinly, gasping. "Thank you so much for your advice, tiny creature from the bottom of the fucking food chain."

"I look like this for a reason, you know," she says, managing to sound vaguely affronted despite the circumstances. Marvelous.