the keeper's cottage · day 892 · afternoon

Waiting out the storm

The rain begins to taper off as the evening settles over the island. Kevin and Jenny are together at the table to share the remaining food.

The humidity hangs heavy over the cottage, making any physical labor with wet wood nearly impossible. Jenny rests on the porch, her ankle throbbing in the damp heat as they wait for the supply boat to arrive in two days. The overcast air remains still.

🌿 Jenny09:14

Pass the limpets.

Lean back in the chair and carefully prop the swollen ankle up on the table edge, avoiding any sudden movement.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't look at him right now. If I look at him, I'll start talking about the garden, and then I'll remember that I'm too sick to even stand in it.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:16

"Here." (I slide the pot across the table, the broth sloshing gentle against the sides.)

Pass the pot of boiled limpets to Jenny, then pour the remaining broth into my own tin mug.

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the left side of the ankle now. The red line hasn't moved past my mark since morning. Good sign.

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

🌿 Jenny09:17

Thanks.

Take a small, cold piece of limpet, chewing slowly while watching the steam rise from the mug.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so quiet when he's working. Sometimes the silence is louder than the rain outside.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:18

Barometer's holding. 978 and steady. Supply boat's still two days out if the forecast don't lie.

Sit down at the table opposite her, blow on the mug, take a sip of the hot broth.

💭 peek at the thought

She's eating slow. Ankle's throbbing in the damp — can see it in the way her jaw tightens between bites. Barometer's still rising though. That's something.

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

🌿 Jenny09:19

The forecast usually lies.

Pick at a piece of limpet with a fork, staring at the gauze wrap on the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

Two days. Two days of this throbbing, this heat, and this distance between us.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:20

Fax was clean this morning. Gale dropped to strong breeze. They don't downgrade unless the high's building proper.

Pick a limpet from the pot with my fork, shell and all, crack it against the rim of the mug.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. But the fax came through clean at 0400 — first time in weeks. Coast guard doesn't waste ink on maybes.

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

🌿 Jenny09:20

I don't care about the high. I just want the antibiotics.

Set the fork down with a sharp click against the table and look him in the eye.

💭 peek at the thought

He's talking about the weather to avoid talking about the leg. It's a safe topic. I'm tired of safe topics.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:22

Four doses doxycycline left in the kit. Trust box had fourteen more. That's eighteen if the boat shows.

Set my mug down, pull the medical kit from under the table, open it and count the blister packs slow enough for her to see.

💭 peek at the thought

Two days of doxycycline left. Metronidazole's gone. She's counting same as me.

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.