Taste probably wouldn't be a big deal to a lot of people, but one thing about Rose was that she loved to eat. It was one of the things she enjoyed most in life, so not being able to taste had really sucked. She was grateful that he understood that.
She just listened when he explained his nightmares. After a moment, she reached over and took his hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Stuff like that can be hard to shake," she agreed. She remembered how long she'd had nightmares after Mason's death or after the fight at the school or even her time in Russia. Not every battle stayed with her like that, but the big ones did.
“Well, that’s not mentioning the reliving my death nightmares that pop up occasionally too,” he said, squeezing her hand back. Between home and here he’d been through a lot in the last few years. Hell, he’d been through a lot for anyone in their early thirties. It seemed to be par for the course with him and his friends here, though. The people who got dropped in Lawrence tended to live extraordinary lives at home and here.
“Don’t be surprised if I’m up and moving early in the morning,” he said. “I just...I don’t know if I’ll actually get some sleep, especially since I’m kind of on edge from not getting a lot of sleep last night. I’ll try not to wake you up, though.”
Rose understood that, too. She sometimes dreamt of the accident where she'd technically died for the first time. She dreamed of the time Tasha had shot her, too. Sometimes, in her dreams, she wasn't fast enough and the bullets struck Lissa, instead. Those were far worse than having to relive the pain of being shot, herself. Not being able to protect Lissa seemed to be a recurring theme in many of her nightmares. It was the thing she feared most.
"I haven't been sleeping much since-" she trailed off, still having a hard time outright referring to the time she'd spent as one of the undead. "Don't worry about it. Dhampirs don't need much sleep, anyway." It was true that Rose enjoyed sleeping late, but she had the endurance to push herself on a pretty small amount if she needed to.
"We could just watch another movie if you're not tired right now," she suggested, reaching over him to grab the remote. Doing so meant she had to angle her body over his and for a moment. It left their bodies pressed together. Rose froze there for a moment as the memories of their night together assaulted her. Suddenly, her gaze was locked on his lips and before she could even think about what she was doing she was leaning closer, bending her head down to capture those lips with her own.