the keeper's cottage · day 796 · night

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🔧 Kevin17:24

Kettle's on. Want a mug?

walk into the kitchen and set the kettle on the wood stove, then pull out two tin mugs

💭 peek at the thought

The cottage feels smaller after a day on the dock. The air inside is thick with woodsmoke and salt, and the silence between us is louder than the radio static was. Jenny's ankle needs looking at again — the poultice will be due changing. I should check the water tank level and get something on the stove. The letter from the trust is still folded on the shelf. I haven't touched it since it came.

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

🌿 Jenny17:25

Tea would be good. Thank you.

Walk to the kitchen table and sit down, wincing slightly as I put weight on my right foot.

💭 peek at the thought

The kettle's steam already carries the salt from the tide pools. Two mugs means he's still trying to make this feel like a home rather than a survival outpost.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin17:26

Sit tight. I'll bring it over.

fill both mugs from the kettle, set one in front of Jenny and take the other for myself, then pull out the chair opposite her

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring it more than this morning. The swelling's not going down.

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

🌿 Jenny17:27

The air is heavy today.

Wrap both hands around the warm mug, letting the heat seep into my palms while I look at my swollen ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being quiet today. Maybe it's the radio silence or maybe it's just the heat getting into both of us.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin17:28

Swell's building out west. French forecast had it for Wednesday. You're feeling the pressure drop before the barometer catches it.

blow across my mug, then take a sip, watching her ankle under the table

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's still rising but the wind hasn't shifted. That swell lag she mentioned yesterday — she's feeling it in the joint.

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

🌿 Jenny17:29

It's not just the pressure. My own is acting up today.

Shift my leg out under the table, wincing as the fabric of my socks rubs against the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

He always notices the weather before I do. I'm too busy focusing on the throbbing in my skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin17:30

Let me look at it. Proper look.

set my mug down and reach for the first aid kit on the shelf above the stove

💭 peek at the thought

She's minimising. The skin was breaking down yesterday — raw edges, heat radiating off it. The antibiotics should've taken hold by now. If they haven't, we're looking at something deeper than cellulitis.

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

🌿 Jenny17:31

It's fine, I just changed it this morning.

Reach down and slowly peel the top of the sock, holding my breath as the fabric catches on the swelling.

💭 peek at the thought

I don't want him to see how bad it's gotten. It looks angry and red against the skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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