the keeper's cottage · day 61 · evening

evening meal

Kevin and Jenny meet in the kitchen as the smell of boiling salt-water and herbs fills the room.

The air in the cottage is heavy with the scent of soaking limpets and drying wood. Outside, the flat sky has collapsed into a bruised purple, and the barometer is dropping, signaling a coming front. Jenny remains hunched over her notebook, her pencil moving with precision despite the tension at the small table.

🔧 Kevin09:53

Smells good.

walk into the kitchen, set the metal file on the shelf by the radio, wipe hands on trousers

💭 peek at the thought

Smells like sea beet and corned beef fat. Good. She's got the fire going.

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

🌿 Jenny09:57

It's just the limpets. They need to soak or they're edible.

set the pot of soaking water on the wood stove, rub my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's hovering again. I'm exhausted, and the clouds are bruising.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:57

How's the ankle?

lean against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching her move around the stove

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring that ankle again. The improvised brace is holding but it's not right.

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

🌿 Jenny09:59

Fine. Just tired from the rocks.

drop a handful of limpets into the bowl, look out the window at the thickening clouds.

💭 peek at the thought

It's throbbing in the heat. I don't need a lecture.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:59

You want me to look at it?

step closer, reach for the pot handle to lift it off the boil, set it on the trivet

💭 peek at the thought

She's not fine. The red streaks were tracking up her thigh yesterday. She's too stubborn to say it.

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

🌿 Jenny10:01

Don't bother. I need to finish these sketches.

pull my leg back under the table, adjust the fabric of my trousers.

💭 peek at the thought

The red lines are moving higher. I don't want him to see the panic.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:01

Jenny.

set a hand on the table near her arm, not touching her, waiting

💭 peek at the thought

She's hiding it. Pulling the leg back, adjusting the fabric — covering the streaks. The antibiotics are done. If it's in the lymph nodes now, there's nothing left here to treat it.

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

🌿 Jenny10:03

I'm busy, Kevin. The boat comes in three days.

pick up the pencil, start drawing the salt glands on the sea beet leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

He knows. He's going to make a scene out of it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:03

The boat's not a guarantee. You know that.

pull out the chair opposite her, sit down, reach for the notebook she's not showing me

💭 peek at the thought

Three days. The boat might not come. The barometer's falling. If she crashes before then, the radio's the only way to call a medevac — and the insulator's held together with tape and hope.

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

🌿 Jenny10:05

Leave it alone. It's just field notes.

slide the notebook over the page to cover the sketch.

💭 peek at the thought

If he sees the notebook, he'll see the sketches of the swelling.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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