the keeper's cottage · day 586 · afternoon

Ankle re-dressing and crate inventory review

Jenny sits on the porch cot with her ankle elevated, Kevin beside her with the first aid kit. The supply crate inventory list lies between them. The generator hums low from the corner. Outside, the tide continues falling, exposing more of the dock pilings.

The warm rain tapers to a steady drizzle against the cottage roof. Outside, the low tide has fully retreated, exposing the slick rocks of the tide pools and leaving the salt-crusted wooden crate bobbing near the dock pil.

🔧 Kevin06:41

Ankle looks cleaner. Red line's gone.

clean the scalpel in the basin, wipe it on clean gauze, set it back in the kit

💭 peek at the thought

The silence between us isn't empty anymore. It's full of things we don't need to say.

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

🌿 Jenny06:43

It feels less like a heartbeat in my joint. Thank you.

reach for the inventory list and slide it toward him.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right, but he says it like he's reporting on a piece of machinery. I wonder if he even notices I'm shaking from the hunger.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:43

Mm. Good.

pick up the inventory list, unfold it, scan the columns with a calloused thumb tracking down the page

💭 peek at the thought

She's reading me. Always has.

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

🌿 Jenny06:45

There are more tinned proteins than I expected. We should probably check the expiry on the beans.

lean back against the cot and watch his thumb move across the paper.

💭 peek at the thought

I can tell he's looking for the hardware. He doesn't care about the seeds or the newspapers, just the things that can be bolted down.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:45

Beans don't expire. The tin does. We'll check seals when we store them.

tap the column for tinned provisions with a fingernail, then fold the list slow and deliberate, set it on the cot between us

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching my hands more than the list. Let her.

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

🌿 Jenny06:47

Right. Everything's just a seal.

pull the blanket higher over my lap and shift my ankle slightly.

💭 peek at the thought

"Beans don't expire." Typical. Everything is a binary to him—sealed or leaking, functional or broken.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:47

Everything's a seal.

reach for the tin mug on the porch floor, blow across the steam, hold it out to her without looking

💭 peek at the thought

The blanket. The shift. Small things she does that aren't small.

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

🌿 Jenny06:49

Is this tea?

take the mug with both hands, feeling the heat seep into my palms.

💭 peek at the thought

He's doing it again. The clinical care. He knows I'm weak, but he won't ask if I'm okay; he just provides the fuel.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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