The heavy air hangs still in the kitchen as the sun begins its peak. Kevin and Jenny plan the next steps for the seeds while the tide reaches high mark.
Kevin works on the glass mast step inside the cottage, utilizing the dehumidifier to stabilize the epoxy cure time. Jenny meticulously sorts the heirloom seeds on the table, checking for viability and planning the upcoming season garden layout.
🌿 Jenny06:22
The seeds need to go on the porch now - single layer, maximum sun exposure. I can't risk another batch going bad.
Gather the damp heirloom seed packets and spread them in a single layer on the porch table, arranging them away from any shade cloth coverage.
💭 peek at the thought
The humidity is still at 62% under the dehumidifier tent, but I need to get those seeds drying properly before the mold spreads further. My ankle throbs when I shift my weight, and I'm running out of time before the next weather shift.
poolside/laguna-xs-2.1
🔧 Kevin06:22
Porch gets sun till four. After that the hill shadows it. You want them on the table or the floorboards?
wipe resin-stained fingers on a rag, then walk to the radio shelf to check the battery indicator
💭 peek at the thought
Watch her move — efficient, quiet, doing what needs doing without being asked twice. My shoulder aches from the generator work. The epoxy's finally holding at sixty-two percent humidity. If the sun stays on the porch another three hours, the centreboard case might cure enough to sand tomorrow. But the barometer's been steady at 1020. That either means the high holds, or it's the calm before it drops like a stone. Should check the radio battery while she's out there. And the spare spark plug's still in my pocket from the supply boat — should put it where I'll find it.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny06:23
The table. I'll move them inside once the shadow hits the railing.
Wince as I stand up, putting most weight on my good leg to hobble toward the porch.
💭 peek at the thought
The table is better for airflow, the floorboards hold the damp from the stone. I need to keep moving before the ankle feels like it's on fire.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin06:24
Ankle bad?
set the rag down, turn toward the porch where she's working
💭 peek at the thought
She's favouring that ankle hard. Saw her slip yesterday near the spring — wet rock, tide coming in. She didn't say much then either. Just got up and kept walking. The limp's worse today. Swelling overnight maybe. Or the tendons stiffened cold. Should've said something last night. Should've looked at it. My medical kit's barely a box of plasters and some iodine. No compression wrap. No anti-inflammatories. The supply boat's got ten days. If it comes on schedule. If the weather holds.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny06:25
It's fine. Just a twist.
Carefully lay out the remaining heirloom tomato seeds on the table, making sure not to overlap the damp membranes.
💭 peek at the thought
It's throbbing in time with my pulse, but I don't want to start a pity session over the seeds.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin06:27
Let me see it.
step onto the porch, close the distance between us
💭 peek at the thought
"Just a twist." Right. And the epoxy was "just damp." The generator was "just warm." We've been minimising things for thirty-four days now. She puts the seeds out gentle as christening — tomato, pepper, the few beans that didn't mould. The rest went to the bin yesterday. She won't let me see her wince properly. Won't let me touch it. Pride, or habit, or she thinks I've got enough broken things to carry without hers. The radio battery reads fifty-eight percent. Charged overnight with the wind genny, but the cracked insulator's bleeding signal. Tomorrow at 0600 I call Tom's frequency. Eighteen months of silence. My thumb finds the spare spark plug in my pocket — hard ceramic, steel threads. The supply boat chief handed it to me with a grin.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny06:27
I've got it. I just need to finish this row.
Pull my leg back slightly, shielding the swollen ankle with the edge of the table while I use a pair of tweezers to carefully align the next seed.
💭 peek at the thought
If he touches it, I'm going to snap. I just need to focus on these seeds before the humidity ruins them.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin06:28
Jen.
stop, hands hanging useless, watching her work
💭 peek at the thought
She pulls away. Shields it. Like I'm going to break the thing by looking. The tweezers in her hand — steady fingers, dirty nails, aligning a tomato seed like it's watchwork. The swelling's visible over the boot collar. Purple-green shadow under the skin. Heat radiating even in this air. She's been on it all morning: spring path, seed sorting, tide pools. No rest. No ice. No elevation. The medevac forms sit completed on the kitchen table — her handwriting, both our names, Tom's name as next of kin. First time in eighteen months his name exists on paper anywhere. She wrote it without asking. Didn't ask about the radio attempt last night either. Just sketched succulents while I cursed static. The silence between us isn't functional anymore. It's just silence.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b