She felt him jerk against the connection, against where her hand gripped his, but Rey held onto him fast. She was determined to show him that he wasn't trapped by circumstance, here — that while in Keeliai and on the turtle at least, there were opportunities afforded to him. That he did have somewhere to turn, other than to chase Supreme Leader Snoke's ghost down that deep chasm into endless Dark.

Through the tenuous link between them she registered surprise at her tenacity, confusion...and then the barest sliver of something that felt to her senses like hope.

And then Rey sucked in her breath, experiencing with him the fleeting touches of that day, on his couch — how they'd given in to craving, fueled by the little crystals they'd partaken of. How demanding yet gentle his hands had been, the warmth and wet of his mouth against hers. She swayed on her feet, slightly unsteady with the force of the recollection, glassed-over eyes suddenly heavily-lidded.

She was aware, still, that Ren was licking his lips as he spoke; it was supremely distracting.

"...We could try, yes," she encouraged him quietly, her voice soft with the heaviness of memory. "If you believe yourself to be ready to."

His hand was still tightly clutched in hers, as she leaned into his space standing over his bedside; the draw to him was strong, the pull more potent in close proximity like this, and Rey didn't have the will to deny it.

"You once offered to teach me, before, but...perhaps we could learn from each other."