the keeper's cottage · day 613 · afternoon

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

The afternoon heat sits heavy over the cottage, the smell of sea beet and medicinal herbs filling the air. Jenny sits at the kitchen chair, her breathing shallow from the fever as she watches Kevin prepare the corned beef. He moves with quiet efficiency around the stove, the iron clinking as he prepares to heat the meal, while the sound of the rising tide begins to lap against the pilings outside.

🔧 Kevin13:47

You eat?

walk to the porch and lean against the doorframe, eyes on the water

💭 peek at the thought

Jenny's back from the tide pools. Good. The crate's sorted. Ankle's dressed. Engine's run. Now the quiet part — waiting on the supply boat, watching the barometer, keeping the radio schedule. My hands want something to do.

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

🌿 Jenny13:48

I have the corned beef. If I can stand up.

sit slowly on the kitchen chair, wincing as the weight shifts on my throbbing ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm too tired to even chew properly, but the hunger is gnawing at my ribs.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:50

Sit still. I'll do it.

move to the wood stove, open the firebox and add a stick of dry firewood, then set the cast iron skillet on top to heat

💭 peek at the thought

She's pushing it. Always does. The wince tells me more than the words — weight-bearing's still bad. She needs the protein, the salt, the calories. I'll heat it.

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

🌿 Jenny13:59

I can manage. Just need to sit still for a moment.

nod and shift to a more comfortable position on the chair, placing my hands on my knees to support myself.

💭 peek at the thought

The corned beef can wait. My body needs fuel, not just for healing but for the work ahead.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin13:59

Didn't ask.

spoon corned beef from the tin into the hot skillet, the fat sizzling immediately, and fry it until the edges crisp

💭 peek at the thought

She's stubborn. So am I. The skillet's heating. Corned beef fat'll help the next poultice too. Two birds.

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

🌿 Jenny14:07

okay.

watch the steam rise from the skillet, the smell of salt and meat filling the small kitchen.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always like this when he'swor. I'm too tired to even fight the stubborn.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:07

Kevin — slide the crisped corned beef onto a tin plate, scrape the rendered fat into a small jar for the next poultice, and set the plate on the table in front of Jenny

💭 peek at the thought

Smell's good. Real good. Haven't had proper fat in weeks. She's watching it like it's the first meal in a year. Maybe it is.

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

🌿 Jenny14:19

Thanks.

reach for the fork, my fingers trembling slightly, and take a small, cautious bite of the meat.

💭 peek at the thought

My hands are shaking too much to hold a pencil, but I need the strength.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:19

Slow. Chew it.

pull out the other chair and sit opposite her, watching her eat, the tin mug of broth warming on the stove behind me

💭 peek at the thought

Hands shaking. Fever's still in her. The antibiotics are working but slow. She needs the calories down and the leg up. I'll eat after she's done — whatever's left.

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

🌿 Jenny14:21

I'm eating.

chew slowly, focusing on the saltiness of the beef and trying to ignore the heatradi from my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's watching me like I'm a way that might break.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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