By the time Penny had thrown on an outfit she deemed appropriate for working in, and was ready to leave the house Macy had laid claim to the lounge. As she made her way to the front door Penny had just enough time to catch the image of a yellow sponge before the channel changed to something a little more 'grown up'. Macy turned towards her as if she had just been caught doing something she shouldn't, But what came out of her mouth wasn't the embarrassed denial Penny was expecting "Wait, you're actually going? And like that?"

"I had nothing planned today anyway" the bakery has got to be the best place to complete that mission "and what do you mean 'and like that' hu?" Moving her fingers in air quotes.

"Seriously? I really have to explain this to you?"

"Macy, I'll listen to your criticism when you learn to wear matching socks"

"Hey, they're supposed to be like that. It's fashionable" She stood from the sofa abruptly, reaching out to run her fingers through Pennys still wet hair "that's besides the point anyways. I can help"

"I'm good, but thanks"

"Please? I don't get to practice much"

Pennys shoulders sagged as she looked towards the ceiling with an expression of suffering. "This had better not take long."

"Eh, what's a half hour?" Sprinting up the stairs "you sit right there, I'll be back." Obediently Penny took her sisters previous spot, right next to where she had placed Kiwi number threes cage, positioned so the gerbil had the best view of the television. Penny tried and failed to suppress a snort at the sight.

Re-entering the room with her hair dryer and Penny's make up box, Macy untied her sisters hair and began untangling it. "How is it you knew exactly where my make up was? You been using it again?" The hair dryer conveniently cut off this line of questioning, and deciding it was too much of a hassle to pursue, Penny dropped it.

Her hair although thick and medium length didn't take long to dry. Macy had done this many times before and worked the brown locks into loose curls that covered Pennys too large ears, and nearly swamped her eyes. Once satisfied Macy started applying foundation, covering up her freckles and creating an even almond tone.

"Purple or blue? Maybe green" Macyheld up the eyeshadow "they all go good for brown eyes"

"How about natural?"

"You're so boring"

"You choose then"

"All the colours?"

"Green."

Penny studied her sister as she worked, they had similar bone structure, diamond shaped faces, high cheekbones and dimpled chins. Doesn't have my ears thankfully Both button nosed and baby faced with a little bit more than baby fat but that was where the similarities stopped.

Penny's hair was brown, thick and refused to be tamed for long, Macy's was fair, strawberry blonde and straight. Pennys brown eyes held an intense gaze that some found hard to hold for long, while Macy's blue were deep and soulful, the gap between her two front teeth made her look cute. Pennys large ears made her look awkward. Her skin was almond with a generous smattering of dark freckles, and Macys ivory skin only served to highlight her extreme eczema. Dry, red splotches covering her hands, neck, and mouth.

Macy couldn't wear it herself, so she did Penny's makeup instead, and Penny despite hating the stuff could never bring herself to refuse a makeover when Macy wanted to give her one.

"Ok you're set to go"

"Sweet, I'll leave my keys here for you, don't answer the door, mom and I should be back by 7pm" she walked towards the door.

"You not even gonna check the mirror?"

"I trust your judgement"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't but.."

"I'm looking" She opened the compact mirror "oh wow, I didn't recognise myself for a second there, you do good work"

Finally, Penny managed to make her way outside, making sure Macy had locked the door before she started walking into town. Only to return five minutes later, banging on her front door.

"I forgot my phone"

"I'm not allowed to open the door"

"That doesn't apply to me, open the door"

"You gotta ask nice"

"You gotta me shitting me Macy"

"Ask nice"

"Please open the fucking door"

A half hour later, a phone-less and sour faced Penny entered her mothers bakery. She wiped her feet on the mat in a scuffle, frowning at the muddy footprints on the beige lamination.

Bypassing the long queue, she moved behind the counter, towards her rather harried looking mother. Amandas frown lines more prominent in the lightning and her usually keen blue eyes were dull with stress. An obvious expression of relief crossing her features as she spotted Penny making her way into the kitchen, washing her hands before putting on blue sanitary gloves and a hair net.

The two of them worked on separate tills, slowly moving through the wave of customers, even as more walked in, or decided to move on after eyeing the queue.

"Two sausage rolls"

"One cheese and bean pasty, a pizza swirly, cinnamon roll and a hot chocolate please"

"About time someone else got on the till, we've been waiting for ages. Cornish pasty and carrot cake." Penny did her best to make sure her fake smile never slipped.

[New skill][Serving Lv1][5% increased speed while serving customers]

"One of those cupcakes with the sugar paper and a black coffee please"

One after another they continued to trickle in, and to the relief of both after 20 minutes the steady stream of people evened out, though never stopped, allowing a brief conversation between the two.

"We ran out of croissants, I need to put in our next batch" Amanda began to retreat to the kitchen out back

"I can do it"

"Sorry Penny, I'm glad you're taking an interest in the business and helping out today, but you have a tendency to burn things, and we don't need a visit from the fire department." She patted her daughter's shoulder, "shout if you need me" disappearing out of sight and leaving Penny in charge of serving customers.

It wasn't what Penny was hoping would happen when she allowed herself to be roped into working for free, but the usual irritation she would usually feel at the situation was drowned out by a sense of glee. Customer service sucked, of that there was no doubt in her mind, but gaining skills in just about anything was satisfying to an abnormal degree.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

[Skill up][Serving LV 2][10% increased speed while serving customers]

Her smile subtly changed as a new self awareness entered mind, beginning to reach her eyes, appearing more genuine and was even in her voice as she bid people a good day.

As a quiet spell defended upon the 'Queen of Tarts' bakery, Penny didn't pause, sneaking into the kitchen to where her mother was hastily wiping down countertops and wheeled tray stands as the oven worked. The heat hitting her full force as she walked through.

[New skill][Heat resistance Lv1][immunity to temperatures 38-40°c]

"Can I help in here at all? I kind of want to learn"

"Baking? This should be the last batch of today sorry honey, after this it's just clean up and serving"

"Oh" Pennys shoulders slumped ever so slightly "ok mom"

At the tone, Amanda's eyes traveled over to her, surprise on her features as she smiled "after we've closed up, if you want to stick around I'll show you how to make croissant batter if you like"

"Yeah I'd like that. Maybe, if it's alright I can come in with you tomorrow morning too?"

Amandas eyes welled up slightly as she beamed, abandoning her current chore to throw her arms around her daughter. "Oh Penny you don't even have to ask, you've really made my day, it'll be great to spend more time with you. I know you don't like baking but I'm glad you're deciding to give it another chance, I hope you learn to love it as much as me, but hey it's ok if you don't, I'm just glad you’re trying"

Hugging her back, Penny's eyes widened in alarm at her mothers reaction "don't cry mom" rubbing circles into her back in slight panic "I knew you were passionate but... hey do you smell burning"

"Oh fudge"

The brunette escaped back onto the shop floor when her mother was distracted. Serving a lone customer before she began busying herself with refilling the drinks chiller and crisps stand. Wiping counters and mopping the floor.

[New skill][Cleaning: Mopping][5% increased speed when mopping floors]

It was halfway through this task a young woman with bubblegum blue hair walked in. Contrasting sharply with her cherry lipstick. She smiled with too many teeth, and Penny didn't bother telling her they were also smeared with lipstick.

"Hello Tiffany."

"You should really put a wet floor sign down before someone hurts themselves"

"..." Unable to argue with this, since it was a good point Penny went to go grab said sign.

"Isn't anybody going to serve me?"

Deliberately taking her sweet time Penny dragged the the floor sign out, placing it by the mop and bucket before returning to the till, devoid of her previous smile.

"Safely first"

"That's alright, I dunno what I want yet anyways" twirling a strand of hair between her fingers.

"Might I suggest the doughnuts? I hear they're the best on the highstreet."

Tiffanys eyes narrowed, lips pursing to resemble a dogs backside "I seriously doubt that, but if you want to put your money where your mouth is, the food court is holding a competition next week, I've already entered, I assume I'll see you there, that's if you're up for a challenge?"

[New mission: Mad batter][Defeat Tiffany at next week's food court competition][bonus objective: ?][reward: 100xp, cooking skill tree][failure: Tiffanys insufferable gloating]

"You're so on"

A sharp smile overtook her features, hands coming together in a satisfied arch as she hummed. "I'll take one of those treacle tarts. Thanks, I'll see you next week"

Their hands briefly brushed against each other as Tiffany grabbed her treat and exited the building, the little bell on top of the door signalling her departure. Penny watched the retreat, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she slowly lowered her hand.

"Shit"

One final rush took over the bakery, Amanda once again having to jump on the till as they made their way through customers methodologically, and as the last one left shop the middle aged woman flipped the sign from open to closed. A sigh on her lips as the tension from her shoulders slipped.

Giving the place a once over with her eyes Amanda smiled at her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You really saved my bacon today"

Penny only made a token effort to escape from her overly affectionate mother before giving into the hug, patting her back while muttering reassurances that it was no problem. After a moment she pulled back, leaving her hand upon her mothers shoulder as a serious look entered her eyes.

"Tiffany may have roped me into this year's food court competition"

Amandas eyes widened as she grabbed onto the front of penny's polo shirt, her voice taking on slightly higher pitch "you agreed to represent us?"

"Maybe..."

"You sure this is a good idea? I still remember the blender incident, the pancake batter massacre.. that one time you melted a spatula... And, and well, honey.. you're sure about this?"

"No"

"But you already agreed"

"Yes"

"Well, I can't say it was wise but I'll support you regardless. If you're representing the 'Queen of Tarts' we better get started on your training. Come on we've only got 6 days to practice"

[Skill up][Food preparation LV3][15% increased accuracy while preparing flood]

Under the guidance of her mother Penny mixed the ingredients together. Plain flour and butter slowly becoming the consistency of bread crumbs between her finger tips. Amanda tipped a small amount of white fine powder into the bowl, gesturing for her daughter to continue her work when she looked up for guidance at the action.

“I like to add in a little bit of icing sugar to give it a little sweetness without becoming grainy.” She let Penny continue for a moment longer before signalling that that was enough, adding a little water to help bind the pastry. “And that’s how you make short pastry, nice work”

“Can you tell me the rough amounts we just used or?”

“Err, to be honest with you I’ve been eyeballing the amounts I use for so long that I’ve forgotten how much is supposed to be used, we have you nans old recipe books at home that I based these off of though if you want to take a look when we get home.”

Penny nodded, rolling the pastry into a ball as she glanced back questioningly. “Now what?”

“This needs to go in the fridge now, you wrap it up and put it in there while I get the batch I premade yesterday” Dutifully Penny followed these instructions with a focus she seldom achieved for such activities. “Ok so now we lightly flour our work top, not too much now. Roll it out so its nice and thin, start from the middle. Yeah like that, now turn it a little bit and roll it again.”

“How am I gonna get this onto the tin though?”

“The trick is to roll it onto the pin and onto it like this see” Amanda temporarily took over the task to demonstrate her tequique, sending a smirk at Pennys disgruntled expression “don’t worry I have the feeling you’ll get to be doing this alot in the near distant future. Press it in so its touching the sides” she passed the dish back “ok so now we need a sharp knife. Just run around the edge to get rid of all the access. don’t throw it away though we’re going to use it for decoration.”

[new crafting skill][Baking LV1][5% better taste to food products while baking]

“I think i remember this part, blind baking right?”

“Yes. Don’t forget to pierce the bottom with a fork first though. Prevents air bubbles”

Penny did so rhythmically, only the sounds of the fork scraping the bottom of the dish filled the kitchen, without prompting Penny then lined it with greaseproof paper, and weighed it down with lentils before placing it in the oven.

“I knew some of my lessons must have stuck with you” A bright look returning to Amandas eyes as she adjusted the oven temperature to be slightly lower. “Ok so golden syrup, and the melted butter put that together than leave it alone. In another bowl, break an egg and whisk with cream and a bit of salt, lemon zest. Than we stir in some day old bread crumbs. Mix the two bowls together and we can pour that into the pastry dish when its done baking.”

“I can’t believe how easy this has been” Penny stirred the mixture absentmindedly, as her mother bought out the access pastry from the fridge.

“It really is if you concentrate on what you’re doing. Can you see yourself doing this more often now?”

“I mean, maybe. It's more the clean up that’s a chore now”

“Mmm” Amanda sighed through her nose “that I can’t argue with. Ok so last thing to do. Roll this out again. Again nice and thin. Sweet, ok. Cut it into strips even as you can now.” Moving to take the dish out of the oven and place the filling inside as her daughter dutifully worked, a comfortable silence falling between the pair.

[Skill up][Baking Lv2][10% increased taste to food products while baking]

A considering look suddenly crossed Pennys features, pausing in her work just long enough for her mother to question it. “I just figured something out is all, Lattice pattern, right? Is that what we’re doing?”

“Yes that’s right”

“Is it.. Is it alright if I try figure this out a sec?”

“Sure”

With a certainty she shouldn’t have possessed, Penny placed down some wax paper and began weaving the patten upon it like an elaborate braid. Twice she made a mistake she went back to fix but other than that the practice was unexpectedly smooth, as if she had done the action at least a few times before, and not for the first time under no direction. She managed to transfer the topping onto the tart with little effort, completing the design with a satisfied smile that her mother was mirroring when she looked back at her.

“Seems like your a natural, didn’t even need me to tell you to build it on the countertop rather than the tart. I knew you had it in you”

The two made easy conversation as they cleaned up their kitchen, and counted the nights profits, the treacle tart almost forgotten in the oven until a jiggling instinct entered Pennys mind.

[skill up][Dovetailing lv3][15% better time management]

She knew it was ready. Jogging towards the oven, heat hit her face as she opened it, and she hissed as her fingers glanced the dish.

-5hp

[Skill up][heat resistance lv2][immunity to temperatures 38-42°c]

Though the burn stopped stinging by the time it took her to stand up right, a red welt remained. Berating herself for somehow forgetting to use the gloves, she put them on and finally removing the works of her labour

[Skill up][Baking Lv 3][15% improved taste to food products while baking]

[New crafting recipe unlocked][Treacle Tart][Recipe completed][Quality:Good][Crafted by: Amanda and Penny Connells]

An odd sort of emotion over took her mind as she stared at the innocent confectionary sitting upon the countertop. The single greatest culinary achievement in her lifetime so far, regardless of received help, and that was going on looks alone. Maybe not quite as good as a tart her mother could have made on her own but it would not have looked out of place on a display stand. Penny looked at it and disbelievingly thought I did this. She cut out a still hot slice and burnt her tongue as she evenly bit into it, eyes widening at the taste. Penny laughed.

“I can cook”