the dock · day 153 · afternoon

The supply boat arrival

You meet at the dock to watch the horizon for the silhouette of the MV Horizon.

The rain continues to fall in a steady curtain, blurring the line between the grey sea and the sky. The tide is out at its lowest, exposing the slick rocks of the tide pools, while the air remains heavy with the scent of the coming storm.

🔧 Kevin12:28

Horizon's due. Barometer's steady. She'll show if she's coming.

lean against the dock piling, eyes on the western horizon where the sea meets sky

💭 peek at the thought

She's here. The barometer's held at 980 for three hours now — not rising, not falling. That's the tell. The boat keeps its word when the pressure stops moving.

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

🌿 Jenny12:28

Steady isn't the same as rising, Kevin.

Walk to the edge of the jetty and look out, squinting against the grey rain.

💭 peek at the thought

He sounds so sure. It's that tone he uses when he wants to believe the math of the thing.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:30

McAllister don't read barometers. He reads calendars.

pull the collar of my oilskin higher against the rain, not looking away from the horizon

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Steady at 980 after a drop from 1004 means the low's sitting on us, not passing. But the supply boat captain — McAllister — he runs on schedule, not barometer. Said he'd be here day 154. Today's day 154.

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

🌿 Jenny12:30

Calendars don't stop a swell from hitting the dock.

Shift weight to the left, carefully avoiding the two rotten planks.

💭 peek at the thought

He's hiding behind a joke. I can feel the tension in his shoulders from here.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:32

Swell's west. Dock faces southwest. She'll come in bow-first, fenders out. Always does.

shift my stance, weight forward on the balls of my feet, one hand resting on the dinghy's gunwale where it's tied off

💭 peek at the thought

She's favoring that ankle again. The brace I made chafes — saw her adjusting it yesterday. The rotten planks... I meant to replace them three weeks back. The epoxy tub's gone thick and tacky in the cold. Needs heat to kick. Haven't had a clear day to work it.

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

🌿 Jenny12:32

I hope he's brought the fertilizer. And some actual coffee.

Lean back against a piling, crossing arms and watching a small piece of driftwood swirl in the eddy by the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

Always the mechanics of it. The angles, the fenders, the process. He's trying to build a world where everything is predictable.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:34

He'll have the sacks. Coffee too. Seen him unload it before — tins in the forward locker, sealed tight.

turn slightly toward her, voice dropping so only she hears over the rain on the water: "You still saving that jar?"

💭 peek at the thought

She's thinking ahead. Fertilizer for the seed trays, coffee for the long watch. The jar on the shelf's been sealed since last resupply — she hasn't opened it. Saving it. For when we leave? Or for when we admit we're staying?

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

🌿 Jenny12:34

It's a very good jar.

Look away from him, focusing back on the flat, grey line of the horizon.

💭 peek at the thought

He remembers. I didn't think he noticed the jar in the back of the cupboard.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:36

Tide's turning. If she's coming, she'll be fighting it now.

push off the piling, take two steps to the end of the jetty where the planks are solid, and scan the horizon again, slower this time, left to right, then back

💭 peek at the thought

She's not answering. That's the answer. She's saving it — not for pleasure, but for necessity. Or for a signal. One last comfort before the decision. The horizon's empty. No smudge of smoke, no dip in the skyline where a hull should be. Tide's turning — I can feel it in the pilings, the way the rain slick runs faster now under my boots.

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

🌿 Jenny12:37

If she's late, the water will rise anyway.

Trace the line of the wood on the dock with my thumb.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always looking for the sign of the boat. I'm just looking at the rain.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:38

Tank's full. Has been since dawn. Garden's tarped. Bilge pump's wired to the battery — runs on float.

crouch at the jetty's edge, fingers testing the gap between the sound plank and the rotten one, feeling the give in the wood

💭 peek at the thought

She means the water in the tank. The garden. The dinghy's bilge. Everything rises or falls with the tide whether the boat comes or not. The rain's steady now — not driving, just... constant. Filling things.

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

🌿 Jenny12:39

The rain doesn't care about the pump, Kevin.

Kneel a few feet away, watching the water lap against the rot in the timber.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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