Lover II- ML

251. Guatemala

"Since you're an athlete in your prime, you get started on our shelter for the night while I try to find us some food." Bear orders with an innocent smile, handing over a machete to Kaia.

"Getting too old to chop down trees?" Kaia teases him with a soft smirk, unclipping the protective case and unsheathing the blade.

"Something like that," Bear accepts the taunting graciously. "Try to get thick, even stalks of that bamboo over there." He points over towards a cluster of sturdy looking trees. "We'll need enough to build a platform a few feet off the ground, just to avoid the critters in the night on the forest floor."

Kaia didn't want to know what the 'critters in the night' were, so she got to looking for the strongest looking bamboo shoots to hack at the bottom.

She'd already been told that this was legal, it wasn't bad for the environment and they weren't ruining any habitats in the area by removing few of many.

So she took no guilt in cutting them down, aiming for five to then cut in half and make a 'bed' of ten across since they were so tall.

While she did that, Bear had taken to scavenging through the bushes to find insects, edible fruits and fungi. He only came across the first one.

"Kaia, come here." Bear says in genuine excitement, holding what looks like a thick white caterpillar.

Kaia drops what she's doing in an instant, thinking by the joy in Bear's voice that it's something good. Boy, was she wrong. "Oh my god, ew!" She stops in her tracks and looks at it in disgust. "That looks disgusting."

"Maybe, but this little guy." Bear holds it up for the camera to get a shot. "Is extremely nutritious and will do perfect for our dinner tonight."

"We're eating that?" Kaia asks slowly. "Just that? No herbs or sauces... to make it less awful?"

"I was told what to do when you pull that face." Bear laughs and points to Kaia's displeased expression. "Do you want to know how much protein it has?"

"Go on." Kaia rolls her eyes, now knowing that when Mapi spoke to Bear last night in the hotel lobby she was giving him tips on how to make Kaia do things.

"41 grams." Bear answers, watching genuine shock and amazement appear on Kaia's face. "Just for this."

"Wow... ok." Kaia agrees, still unenthusiastic about actually eating it. "Are we cooking it?"

"No need." Bear disgusts Kaia and all future viewers by biting the poor insects head off and crunching it between his teeth.

Kaia reasonably takes a big step back as her jaw drops in disbelief. "I can hear it crunching. Oh my god, this is my worst nightmare."

"You mentioned spices." Bear recalls while still eating ever so casually. "Did you bring some?"

"I have some Italian seasoning and a little bottle of olive oil." Kaia confirms with a proud and relieved smile. She knew she needed it for whatever Bear would make her eat. "Get me a granite slab and I can grill these off over a fire and make them seem like garlic shrimp."

Bear laughs, definitely preferring the sound of that to the taste of the insect remnants in his mouth. "Unfortunately there's no granite around here, but I am more than up for a famous Kaia Morelli dish; bushcraft edition." He adds the last bit on, aware there isn't much for Kaia to work with out here.

"Alright." Kaia begins to nod in agreement, albeit hesitantly. "Switch roles, you build the platform, I make the food?"

"Sounds like a plan." Bear agrees enthusiastically. "There are more of these all across the back of the tree, find the best and put them in here." He hands her a metal bowl to collect the little worm things.