A very generous gift

Damon stirred awake in a few minutes, his brows twitching slightly as awareness returned. But he didn't open his eyes. The warmth beneath his head, the soft rhythm of breath beside him, the faint scent of lavender and healing herbs, it all wrapped around him like a cocoon. And after everything that had happened today, he wasn't in a hurry to crawl out of it.

He stretched just a little, subtly adjusting his position without lifting his head from Kate's lap. It was… absurdly comfortable. His thoughts drifted back through the whirlwind of the past few hours, the metallic fortress, La Rocha, his mana core formation, the weird thing his blood did, and finally this world spirt's binding ritual.