the keeper's cottage · day 380 · evening

Evening meal and infection watch

Kevin boils the limpets on the stove while Jenny sits on the porch step, ankle elevated, the red streaks visible in the lantern light. The rain hammers the roof. The barometer holds at 987 hPa. The supply boat is due in four days.

Kevin and Jenny sit on the cottage porch as the humidity thickens in the evening. They share a simple meal of boiled limpets and sea beet while discussing the spreading red streaks on Jenny's calf.

🔧 Kevin14:05

Limpets'll be done in five. Broth's good for the rice.

ladle cooked limpets from pot into bowl, set aside broth for rice

💭 peek at the thought

Steam fogs the windows. The limpets spit and hiss in the pot — sound of food, finally. Her ankle's propped on the crate, lantern light catching the red lines marching up her calf. Cephalexin's bought us days, not weeks. Four days to the supply boat if it comes. If it doesn't. I should've told her about the coast guard. Too late now.

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

🌿 Jenny14:05

I'm not hungry, Kevin.

Jenny adjusts the cloth wrap around her calf, wincing as the throbbing heat pulses.

💭 peek at the thought

If this infection reaches my knee, I won't be able to get to the garden, and that tin of seeds will just rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:06

You don't eat, the meds tear your stomach. Broth then. Salt, fat, water.

strain limpet broth into a tin mug, set it on the porch step beside her boot

💭 peek at the thought

She hasn't eaten since midday. The infection's burning through her. Won't admit it. Won't eat. Stubborn as the engine bolts that seize in salt air.

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

🌿 Jenny14:07

I'll drink it.

Jenny reaches for the mug, her fingers trembling, and takes a small sip of the warm liquid.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks a cup of water fixes cellulitis. Everything is a machine to him.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:08

Taste okay? Needs more salt if you can take it.

sit on the step beside her, shoulder not quite touching, watch the rain drum the roof and wait for her to drink more

💭 peek at the thought

She drank it. Small sip, but she drank it. Fingers like ice, but she held the mug. Heat's still in her leg — red's crept higher since dusk. Barometer's holding. Four days. If the boat comes.

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

🌿 Jenny14:09

It's fine.

Jenny takes a longer sip, the steam fogging her glasses as she watches the red streaks on her leg.

💭 peek at the thought

It's just salt and grease, but it's the only thing that isn't hurting me.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:10

Good. Drink it slow. I'll put rice on in the broth.

rise, go back inside, measure rice into the pot of limpet broth, set it on the stove to simmer

💭 peek at the thought

Steam on her glasses. She's watching the red lines like they're a chart she's plotting. Not looking at me. The broth's going down — that's something. Barometer hasn't moved in hours. Rain's steady. No wind shift. Four days.

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

🌿 Jenny14:10

Thanks.

Jenny leans her head back against the stone wall, letting the throbbing in her ankle pulse in time with her heart.

💭 peek at the thought

If I can't walk, I can't finish the transect. The seeds will just stay dead in that tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:12

Kevin — return to the porch, sit close enough now that shoulders touch, listen to her breathing and the rain on the roof

💭 peek at the thought

Rice simmering. She's fading on the step — head back, eyes closed, pulse visible in her neck. The red's past her knee now in the lantern light. Cephalexin's not touching the bloodstream. Four days to a boat that might not exist. I should radio the coast guard again. Should've told her yesterday. Should've built the garden.

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

🌿 Jenny14:13

It's cold out here.

Jenny pulls her leg away slightly, a sharp intake of breath as the movement rubs the inflamed skin.

💭 peek at the thought

He's touching me, but he's not seeing the red moving so fast.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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