Submission (#32) Approved

During the winter months, the Apothecary dynamic changed a bit. With the cold weather, going out to get plants was mostly out of the question, and with that being almost the only thing Delphie was allowed to help with they felt quite restless, bored, even.

"Well if I could go out... It's not like there's a lot of plants to gather right now." Delphie would think to themselves from time to time while looking at the ceiling. They've already cleaned every surface possible, even stuff out of sight was spotless.

Out of habit, they opened the bookings, empty. Of course, every rational Softbot had stocked themselves full of remedies BEFORE the winter hit. The days that came after were mostly calm with some rare exceptions, but their Teacher always made sure to have emergency stock at hand so when those occurred it was quite easy. Just go to the back, pick the stuff, and give it to the client. The interaction ended, back to doing nothing but warm up the chair by the counter.

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...

They suddenly jolted off the chair, taking a deep breath and letting out a frustrated scream -I need to do something, anything!- with that, they immediately sent a message to Anthrodynia, their teacher, their only hope.

*Hey teach, do you need anything done? Cleaning? Errands? pls I'll do anything I'm so bored... I'll literally die if I don't find something to do RIGHT NOW kajsdlja*

sent

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tap tap tap tap tap Delphie looked intensely at the screen tap tap tap tap -Not seen yet- tap tap tap -Yes they're writing!- ... There was a big pause -Teach?- taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap -Replyreplyreply plsplsplspls- taptaptaptaptap

Another writing bubble and more waiting and taps later

!!!!

*Hello Delphie, I hope you're doing well. I don't need anything in particular but if you're that desperate for a task do you mind going to the bakery and getting me something? I believe they should be open by this time since they got a new heater. Be sure to bundle up well. Thank you.*

YES, an errand!

They quickly put on a puffy jacket and set off to the bakery, which for good or bad wasn't that far away. Once they arrived they quickly realized a few things, yes they were open, and the new heater was a hit! The place was warm and cozy, and because of that also completely packed. Everything was sold out and there was a waitlist for the bread. The last thing that Delphie wanted to do was spend another 3 hours doing nothing, also all the tables were full and they'd feel awkward walking around alone, waiting outside? Too cold.

"I could go to some stores while I wait but I didn't bring much money... What if I end up liking something? No no can't do" As a last resort they left the store and went to a small supermarket nearby, maybe there was some bread there? And there was! But... "Teach is very particular about their bread, they told to get something so technically anything should be fine right? But I know they prefer their bread freshly baked... This looks ok to me but..." They began to pace from side to side, what to do what to do...

A worker saw them and decided to show some customer service skills. -May I help you?- Delphie was a little startled, being taken out of the trance so suddenly, but the worker looked like a deity right now. An angel.

Delphie was frozen in place, now realizing they had to explain the situation to this poor soul. -I... Wanted fresh bread... For someone else- The worker looked at them expectantly, as Delphie was currently right in front of the bread section.

-They didn't specify a kind, and I know they usually prefer their bread right out of the oven but the wait at the bakery is too long and I'm not sure how long it's been since this was baked so I was unsure on what to do, also I'm sorry I know this is not your fault I understand this place has more to do than just bake bread so you need to have it on display for convenience. I think maybe they'll be ok with this I shall take my leave now thank you- Before Delphie could make their exit, however, the worker raised a hand in a calm manner and made a comment.

-Why don't you try to bake it yourself? I'm sure they will appreciate that and it could be a fun activity- Because of Delphie's clear "How?" expression they continued with -If you'd like I can help you pick up some ingredients if you tell me what you want to make-

The rest of the interaction was a blur. Before they knew what had happened they were back with all the ingredients needed to make almost any kind of bread and a mission: Don't burn it. One thing Delphie was unable to say to the kind worker is that they're as good at cooking as a nood would be at bench-pressing 100 pounds. But it was too late now.

Delphie decided might as well be ambitious and make one of Teach favorites, Chocolate Croissants. The recipe seemed simple enough.

make easy dough from butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk
roll out dough into a large rectangle
make the butter layer
enclose the butter layer inside the dough
roll out the dough into another large rectangle, then fold it back together
roll out the dough again, fold it back together again
roll out the dough one more time, fold it back together
chop chocolate
put chocolate inside
shape the croissants
bake

Easy peasy. Delphie started right away. And that's when the issues started... First of all they didn't expect the mixer to move so much, not only did some of the powder escape to land right in their face but then the mixer just, fell. How? Beats them. Thankfully the dough was firm enough to not fly off the thing so nothing was lost. It said something about the room not being too warm but they had turned off the heat so it should be fine.

-Ok now it says to cover it and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes- Why did the dough need to rest? Delphie wondered if it'd be to bad if they skipped that step but decided to just follow the rules.

Rollout time. It had a measurement but eh, they could eyeball it, easy does it... No. It looked horrible, they made it into a ball and tried again, accidentally ripping the dough, uhh ok whatever they just did two balls and tried their best to make a rectangle as the instructions said.

-Ok so now I have to... chill it for 4 hours... 4 HOURS?!- It was then Delphie started to read ahead. This was a 2-day recipe. 2 DAYS FOR SOME BREAD?! Their respect for bakers raised by a trillion but their motivation to continue also basically vanished.

They went back to the bakery and waited, 3 hours of waiting for a finished bread is better than 4 hours to finish one step in a recipe.

When their order was ready Delphie shyly asked how they made the croissants so fast. The worker told them they always had multiple batches of dough at different stages chilling so when needed they just had to do the last step to bake them. Delphie's admiration just kept increasing as the clerk explained. Making croissants is no joke.

Delphie left that day with a sense of wisdom and a lot of bread. They would leave the kitchen cleaning to their future self.