the keeper's cottage · day 585 · afternoon

Midday Meal

Jenny sits at the table while Kevin joins her with the food. The tide continues to fall, revealing the tide pools.

The heat is heavy as the sky thickens, signaling a shift in the dry season. Kevin focuses on securing the cottage against the coming weather while Jenny battles with a rising fever and a persistent de-purging infection in her ankle.

🔧 Kevin05:43

Eat slow. There's more in the pot.

Set the tin mug of limpet broth on the table beside her bowl, then take the wooden chair opposite with my own portion.

💭 peek at the thought

She's eating. That's the main thing. The limpets are hot and the mackerel's got fat on it. Her colour's better than dawn.

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

🌿 Jenny05:43

I'm not starving, Kevin.

Take a small bite of the mackerel, the salt biting against my tongue while I watch the water retreat from the shore.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the broth will fix what the antibiotics couldn't. The heat radiating off the table feels like a fever dream, and I'm tired of being a patient.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:44

Didn't say you were.

Break the shell of a limpet with the spoon edge, suck the meat out, chase it with broth. Watch the tide line drop another foot.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not starving. She's eating. That's the difference.

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

🌿 Jenny05:47

It's going out really far today.

Lean back in the chair, feeling the dull throb in my ankle as I track the receding water line across the sand.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is exposing everything the island tries to hide—the jagged rocks, the kelp, the rot. way like this infection under my skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:47

Spring tide. Lowest water of the month. If the swell stays down we can walk the outer shelf.

Scrape the last mackerel fat from the tin with a finger, wipe it on a crust of hardtack. Chew slow. Keep watching the water.

💭 peek at the thought

Spring tide. Moon's doing its work. Good exposure on the lower pools — limpets, maybe mussels if the surge isn't too bad. Her ankle's throbbing. She's favouring it.

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

🌿 Jenny05:49

I can't walk the shelf, Kevin. Not today.

Set the fork down with a sharp clink and pull the cloth wrap tighter around my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The outer shelf. I could see the *Sargassum* drifts and maybe find some more sea beet specimens without having to swim. But I can barely stand, let alone walk the shelf.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:49

Didn't ask you to.

Finish the broth in one swallow. Push back from the table. Collect both bowls and the mug. Walk to the stove and scrape the pot clean with a rag.

💭 peek at the thought

She knows her own body. The wrap's tight — good. Swelling's still there but the heat's gone. She's not arguing, just stating. That's progress.

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

🌿 Jenny05:51

Jenny — watch him at the stove, my jaw tight, then slowly pick up the tin mug of water and take a small, shaky sip.

💭 peek at the thought

That tone. That precise, infuriating lack of an invitation. He's treating me like a broken piece of equipment he's just waiting to see if it'll restart.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:51

Kevin — hang the rag on its peg. Turn back to the table. Pick up the pencil from the notebook spine. Tap it once on the wood. Wait.

💭 peek at the thought

Hands shaking. Not the fever — that's broken. Something else. The water's cold in the tin. She's not looking at me.

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

🌿 Jenny05:53

I'm going to lie down a bit.

Stand up slowly, putting the weight on my good leg, and move own the own.

💭 peek at the thought

If he doesn't ask, I'll just sit here until the tide comes back in. The heat is making the fever feel like lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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