the keeper's cottage · day 305 · night

Night of the Heat

The heat finally breaks slightly, but the air remains heavy and humid. The sound of the tide lapping against the pilings fills the silence.

Kevin checks Jenny's swollen ankle as the dry season breeze settles through the cottage. The air is warm, and the high tide laps against the dock pilings, keeping them for now.

🌿 Jenny11:56

( way said)

Reaches for the cold compress and wraps it around her swollen ankle, wincing at the pressure.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with the tide, and I can't even look at the dock without feeling the weight of that rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:57

Let me look at it.

walk over to where she's sitting on the porch, crouch down beside her ankle, reach out to gently unwrap the compress

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to hide how bad it is. That wince wasn't from the cold — it was from the weight of the wrap on skin stretched too tight. The red streaks I saw this morning haven't faded. They've probably spread.

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

🌿 Jenny11:58

It's fine, Kevin. Just swollen.

Pulls her leg away slightly, looking out at the half-weeded garden.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always trying to help, but I'm too tired to explain how much the dock scares me today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:58

It's not fine. Let me see.

stay crouched, wait with my hand outstretched, not reaching for her again but not pulling back either

💭 peek at the thought

She pulls away like I'm the one who'll break something. The ankle's hot through the bandage — I felt it yesterday. Antibiotics are down to two doses. If the streaks hit the femoral vein, we're not waiting for a supply boat.

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.