the keeper's cottage · day 304 · afternoon

Preparing for Evening

Kevin and Jenny meet at the cottage as the sun begins to dip. The barometer continues its slow descent.

Kevin spent the afternoon inspecting the Yanmar engine for vibrations, though the issue persists at high RPMs. Jenny sorted through the heirloom seeds, carefully checking the damp packets for viability. They met at the cottage as evening to prepare tea.

🌿 Jenny10:46

You're late. Or I'm early. I can't tell anymore.

Lean against the porch railing and wipe a smudge of dirt from my forearm.

💭 peek at the thought

He looks exhausted. I can smell the salt and grease on him. I wonder if he noticed the soil is finally right for the seeds.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin10:46

Lost track of time down at the dock. The mooring ring’s worse than I thought.

walk into the cottage, pull the letter to Tom from the oilskin on the shelf, and set it on the table beside the radio.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer’s drop feels like a warning I keep ignoring. Jenny’s here, dirt on her arm, and I’m still stuck in the dock’s rot and my own silence.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny10:48

It's always worse once you actually start digging into it.

Walk inside and move the letter an inch to the left, straightening it on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

He's avoiding the garden. He's avoiding me. And he's finally thinking about that letter.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin10:48

The ring mortise is pulp. Greenheart sister beam's the only way it holds through spring tides. Barometer's dropping slow — means we've got a window, maybe two days.

fill the kettle, set it on the wood stove, and pull two mugs from the shelf without looking at her.

💭 peek at the thought

She moved the letter. Not by accident. She knows it's there, knows what it weighs, and she's still not saying a word about it. Just straightening the edge like that makes it real — like it's something we both have to look at now.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny10:50

I planted the first row today. The heirloom ones.

Stand by the table, fingers tracing the edge of the seed tin.

💭 peek at the thought

Two days. That's all the time I have to see if those seeds take before the weather turns. I can't tell him I'm terrified they'll just rot in the ground.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin10:50

Which varieties?

light the stove with a twist of newspaper and a match, wait for the catch, then set the kettle on the hot plate.

💭 peek at the thought

She's giving me something solid. Seeds in soil. That's more than I've managed with the dock, more than I've managed with the letter. My hands know greenheart and stainless; hers know dirt and patience. We're building different things on the same rock.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny10:52

The beans. And some of the squash. The soil was... it was acceptable.

Open the tin slightly to smell the dry seeds, then snap it shut.

💭 peek at the thought

He remembers they were separated. He's actually paying attention to the details.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin10:52

Acceptable's the best soil gets here. Lime beds holding 6.8?

pour hot water over tea bags in both mugs, let them steep, then slide one across the table toward her.

💭 peek at the thought

Acceptable. That's her word for good enough to bet on. The beans and squash — heavy feeders, deep roots. She's thinking seasons ahead. The tin snaps shut like a decision made.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.