A Pirate's Crush

18. Should've Just Stayed In Bed

...wait, no! What am I doing? I gave myself that pep talk for a reason! If I'm gonna be up all night, I should be productive! I've already got him to go surfing with me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. It's a start, but I gotta keep going! Yeah! I can't just sit around and mope!

The only question is... what do I do next? What can I do while the entire rest of the port's asleep?

Hm... well it's too late to surf, so I can't perfect tricks. Ain't wise to surf at night alone.

I guess... I could paint something for him? Is he even into art? I know there's some paintings in his office...

...nah. Even if he is into art, I wouldn't be able to paint anything good enough for him. Besides, I'm not comfortable showing anyone my work.

What else could I do?

Ugh... I don't know! What do guys like?!

Well... um... I-I guess he liked my swimsuit. Maybe... argh! No! I don't have the guts for that! I... no! Why did I even think of that?!

Damn it, I'm no good at this romance bullshit! Why does it have to be so complicated? Why can't I just be like my friends? As strong as Richelieu, as bold as Algerie, or as pretty as Dunkerque. Not to mention Dunkerque could just whip up a batch of sweets with a snap of her finger.

Wait, that's it! Food! The commander goes crazy for Dunkerque's sweets! Maybe I can surprise him with some treats of my own. I can just ask Dunkerque tomorrow to show me...

...crap. I can't just ask her to teach me. She'll definitely ask where the sudden interest came from. What the hell do I say then? I don't wanna lie again. Or blow my cover. I don't need someone else knowing about my crush.

I guess I gotta go incognito. But when can I do it? There's almost always someone in the kitchen chowing down on Dunkerque's plethora of treats. She always keeps the fridge stocked. And if nobody's eating her treats, Dunkerque herself is in there making them. That means the only time I'd have the kitchen to myself is...

...right now.

Oh God... am I really about to do this? Bake in the middle of the night? I mean, it's not like I'm sleeping anytime soon. And it can't be that hard, right? I've seen Dunkerque bake tons of times. Most of all, if it could make the commander smile...

Damn it all. Guess I gotta put some pants on.

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What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? It's the middle of the night! I should be asleep!

Those were my thoughts as my feet carried me to the kitchen. I grit my teeth as I contemplated how I arrived at this point in my life. The mighty battleship Jean Bart too embarrassed to admit she has a huge crush. And now she's about to bake in the middle of the night because her thoughts are giving her insomnia. How rich.

Before I knew it, I arrived at the kitchen. I walked over and turned the stove light on, as to not blind myself with the kitchen lights. It wasn't much, but it would do.

Ugh! This is so stupid! Why am I doing this?! What if I get caught?! What the hell do I say?

I guess that's a risk I gotta take. I feel like such an idiot. Let's just find a recipe. I don't have to make the whole thing. A tiny sample batch would be a good start. Let's get to it. No time to waste.

I walked over to the shelf holding Dunkerque's myriad of cookbooks. But instead of going for a published cookbook, I grabbed Dunkerque's giant binder of recipes. If there's a recipe in this binder, it means Dunkerque enjoyed the hell out of it and has perfected it. And I know for a fact she reads this thing a lot. Hell, she was looking through it for the mint donuts I helped her with.