the keeper's cottage · day 428 · evening

Shelter from the Squall

The storm has fully hit, with rain drumming violently against the roof and wind shaking the shutters. Kevin and Jenny are gathered in the kitchen by the light of the storm lantern.

Heavy rain lashes the cottage from the west, signaling a coming storm as the pressure drops. Kevin secures the exterior gear and checks the roof integrity, while Jenny manages the pain in her swelling ankle in the damp heat.

🌿 Jenny12:09

It sounds like the roof is going to peel right off.

Lean back against the kitchen counter and gingerly lift the leg with the infection, checking the bandage for seep.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is plummeting. I can feel the humidity sticking to my skin, and my ankle is throbbing in time with the rain.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:09

Roof's held worse. Shutters are sound, porch door's battened. If the ridge goes, we'll hear it before it moves.

Pour two mugs of the hot limpet broth from the pot on the stove, set one on the table near her good hand.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the sound. The gusts are hitting the ridge line hard — shutters are taking the brunt but the roof timbers are creaking. Her ankle's holding; bandage looks clean. No fresh seep. Good. The metro's doing its job. I should check the dock lines again at first light if the tide allows, but tonight the cottage takes the weather.

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

🌿 Jenny12:11

Thanks.

Reach for the mug and wrap both hands around the warm metal, staring at the steam rising into the lantern light.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always so certain about the structure. I can't even stand up straight, and he's talking about the ridge.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:11

Drink it while it's hot. Salt and fat'll help the blood.

Sit opposite her at the table, cradle my own mug, listen to the wind find the gaps in the shutters.

💭 peek at the thought

She's cold. Or just tired. The steam's doing more for her than the broth will. Her fingers are pale at the knuckles — circulation still sluggish from the infection, or maybe just the damp. She hasn't asked about the dock, or the radio, or the supply boat. She knows I've checked what can be checked.

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

🌿 Jenny12:12

I can't stop thinking about the seedlings. I hope the shade cloth holds.

Take a small, slow sip of the broth and glance toward the window, imagining the rain battering the garden.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't taste the salt, just the metallic tang of the tin. I feel like I'm disappearing into the sound of the wind.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin12:13

The cloth's good. We got a double‑layer of twine on the stakes. If the storm's this bad, the piles will flex but not tear.

Pull the tension off the eastern stake, check the twine, and add a few extra knots of webbing from the old sail to reinforce the most exposed corners.

💭 peek at the thought

The shade cloth's tension was a last shoot of hope. The rain's hammering will test it, but the cloth and the stakes I've set should survive a few hours. Still, if a fan line gives, the seedlings could be uprooted. I should double‑check the stakes near the eastern corner now that the wind's picking up.

openai/gpt-oss-20b

🌿 Jenny12:15

Flexing is better than snapping, I guess.

Wince quietly as I shift my weight, pressing the swollen ankle against the chair leg.

💭 peek at the thought

He's talking about stakes, and I'm just thinking about the rot in my skin. My ankle is a hot stone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:15

Put it on the table. The chair's too low.

Push my mug aside, clear a space on the table top, and tap the wood — an invitation, not an order.

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring it. The chair leg's pressing the bandage — or the bone. Either way, she won't say much. The ankle's been through lancing, metro, three days of heat and drainage. It's healing. But the storm's pressure's dropping, and that'll ache in the deep tissue. She needs the leg up, warm, still.

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.