the keeper's cottage · day 426 · afternoon

The Afternoon Lull

The heat begins to break slightly, though the humidity remains oppressive. Kevin returns to the cottage to check on Jenny.

Kevin examined Jenny's infected ankle and found tracking redness, so he started her on metronidazole from the first aid kit. She took the first dose with water from the tank. The barometer held steady at 985 hPa as the tide rose.

🔧 Kevin09:45

How's the ankle?

walk into the cottage and lean against the doorframe, watching her

💭 peek at the thought

Need to see how her ankle's holding and whether the doxy's keeping ahead of it. Also need to tell her about the ninth call at 0600 — she deserves to know I'm still trying.

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

🌿 Jenny09:47

Still throbbing. Like a heartbeat in the bone.

Shift my leg slightly and gesture toward the gauze.

💭 peek at the thought

He looks exhausted. I can tell he's trying to be gentle, but the air between us is still so thick with everything we aren't saying.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:47

Let me look.

crouch beside her and carefully peel back the gauze to check for tracking, heat, or spreading redness

💭 peek at the thought

Bone-deep throb means the infection's still working. Day three of doxy should've dulled it by now. Might need to switch to metronidazole if the anaerobic load's driving it.

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

🌿 Jenny09:48

Be careful. It's... sensitive.

Grit my teeth and hold my breath, watching his face for any sign of alarm.

💭 peek at the thought

I hate being the one who needs help. I can feel the heat radiating off the skin before he even touches it.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:49

It's tracking. Starting metronidazole tonight.

pull the metronidazole blister from the first aid kit and press a tablet into her hand, then re-wrap the gauze clean and snug

💭 peek at the thought

Red line tracking two fingers above the ankle. Hot to touch. Skin shiny. Doxy's not covering the anaerobes. Metronidazole needs to start now — already have the blister pack in the kit.

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

🌿 Jenny09:51

Okay. I'll take it.

Take the tablet and set it on the kitchen table next to my water.

💭 peek at the thought

Tracking. If it goes further up, I won't be able to walk to the garden, let alone plant the seeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:51

Take it now. With water.

fill a tin mug from the tank tap and hold it out to her, waiting

💭 peek at the thought

She's not taking it. Setting it aside like it's optional. Need to make sure she actually swallows it with water.

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

🌿 Jenny09:53

I... I should swallow it. Yes.

Pick up the mug and take a sip, then swallow the tablet down. </think>THOUGHT: God, the heat is relentless. I can feel the infection already working its way up. Take the medicine and swallow it dry, then push the empty mug back to him.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't afford to be this weak. Not when the seeds are sitting here breathing on me.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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