the dock · day 788 · dawn

Morning on the south dock

Grey light lies flat on the water as the tide pushes back against the pilings. Kevin crouches at the seaward corner of the dock, 19mm wrench on the stainless through-bolts of the doubler plate, feeling for galling in the threads. Jenny leans on her driftwood cane beside him, notebook open, sketching the exposed barnacle line while she shifts weight off her bandaged ankle.

The air remains heavy and still as the tide begins to push against the dock pilings. Jenny sits in the kitchen, wincing as she removes the old gauze from her ankle, while Kevin returns to the dock to inspect the structural integrity of the mooring hardware.

🔧 Kevin08:39

Doubler plate's not moving. Through-bolts clean.

Wipe the wrench on my thigh, stand, and walk back toward the cottage with her.

💭 peek at the thought

Barnacle line's higher than last spring tide by a hand's breadth. She's recording it like it matters — and it does, for the garden wall footings. My wrist still remembers the torque on these bolts. They held.

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

🌿 Jenny08:41

Check the seaward bolts again. I need to change the poultice.

Closes the notebook and limps own the cottage, gripping the cane.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is turning, and my ankle is screaming with every step; I can't do the north slope today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:41

Back in ten.

Turn and walk back down the dock to the seaward piling, crouch at the stringer joint, and run fingers over the bolt heads checking for fresh rust streaks or movement in the timber.

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the left side harder today. The swell's pushing different.

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

🌿 Jenny08:43

Don't stay out long, the swell is coming.

Sits on the kitchen chair and begins unwrapping the gauze from her ankle, wincing as the fabric sticks to the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so patient with the wood, and I'm just rotting in my own skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:43

Two minutes.

Finish the bolt check, press my palm flat against the stringer where it meets the piling to feel for flex under the next set, then walk back up the dock toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

She heard it in the pilings before I did. The harbour's never quiet but this has a different rhythm — longer period.

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

🌿 Jenny08:45

The water's getting high.

Peels the old sea beet poultice from the skin and stares at the red, angry swelling.

💭 peek at the thought

If those bolts hold, the dock holds, but my leg feels like lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:45

How bad?

Step through the porch door, set the wrench on the bench, and move to the kitchen chair opposite her — close enough to see the wound properly.

💭 peek at the thought

The red's tracking up past the ankle bone now. Heat radiating off it from three feet away. She needs the antibiotics but the blister packs are empty.

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

🌿 Jenny08:47

It's worse than it was yesterday.

Drops the bloody gauze onto the table and looks away, reaching for the clean water.

💭 peek at the thought

It's throbbing in time with the tide, and the salt air makes it sting.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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