The rest of the event went smoothly, though it was a bit socially taxing, after all Adam had to spend many hours answering kids' questions one after the other. Some were rudimentary, some were complex, and a few even got deep. From the ephemeral nature of his life while doing this work to if he saw any cats. Paraphrasing, of course, the questions were broad as the earth itself.
As he noted earlier there were some jobs that kids gravitated towards more than others, his was among the more popular, which was fine, it certainly beats sitting around bored. But the knight also seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the kids, likely due to their renown as Chicago's protectors. However even Jay proved to be quite popular, though it was probably due to his personality rather than his job. He had a good time chatting with the kids, even lifting a few kids up by letting them hang onto his arms once or twice. He seemed very good with children.
However, eventually the event wrapped up, the teachers then gathered all the kids together and they, together, thanked everyone who came out today. With the children gone the adults were left to leave on their own time, Jay approached Adam.
'Hey buddy!" Jay said as he walked over, hand extended.
"Hey Jay, fancy meeting you here." Adam smiled as he shook his hand.
"I could say the same about you." He smirked. "I do this every year, it's good for the kids and it gets me out of the shop for a bit." He chuckled. "Though I didn't know you were coming this year."
"Yeah I didn't either." Adam laughed. "I found out yesterday."
"Last minute huh?" Jay scratched his beard. "Well if they were going to grab any scaver I'm glad it's you!" He laughed heartily.
"Hey." He said as he slapped Adam's arm. "Why don't you join me and a few of the others at a post job fair for lunch." He offered. Adam thought for a moment and then shrugged.
"Sure, why not, I don't have anything else going on today."
"Wonderful!" He smiled as he led Adam over to a few of the others who were beginning to gather, an eclectic group of workers to be sure, but everyone seemed friendly.
The 7 of them all headed to a restaurant on the second floor that was built inside a plane, much the same as The Delta was, however the entire top of the airplane had been cut off making it an outdoor venue and eliminating any of the claustrophobic feelings one might get. At worst the aisle to walk down while avoiding the tables was a bit narrow, but with multiple ramps on and off the plane it really didn't feel too tight at all.
The lunch was spent quite amicably with the people gathered, they talked a bit about their jobs, their lives, and why they decided to do this for the kids, though of course it was not a Q&A so the conversation flowed naturally.
When the meal was over Adam insisted on paying for the group, he wanted to thank them for inviting him and it seemed to be a good way to do so. Though there were plenty at the table who tried to talk him out of it eventually they all relented. His bill was 276 caps, sizable, but certainly not enough to break the bank. It was nice to be social again. Of course it was not like he was shut away in his room, but honestly other than Eve he really didn't hang out with anyone for the sake of being social. This was a great change of pace for him.
Still when the meal was over Jay approached him again.
"Thanks for coming along Adam, and thanks for paying for the meal, you really didn't have to do that, you know?" He smiled.
"Thank you for inviting me." He smiled. "And don't worry about it, I wanted to do it, figured it was a good way to end the lunch if everyone got a free meal out of it."
"Everyone but you." Jay said with a wagging finger but friendly tone.
"Except me." Adam admitted with a smile.
"Well I'm certainly not going to complain, so thank you." Jay laughed before patting Adam's arm again. "Your holster will be ready as soon as the shop opens tomorrow, I got a few finishing touches to make on it and then it's all yours."
"Thanks Jay."
"No problem, Pleasure to be working with you, as always."
Adam left the event feeling more recharged, he was finally starting to feel like he belonged in this world, people were coming to him, people were noticing him, it was finally starting to feel like he wasn't just an outsider looking in at this weird world he had to survive but instead that he was a member of a community. That felt nice.
Adam left Midway and headed to Ghoultown, he had someone to see before he could leave tomorrow.
"Hey Claire." Adam said as he entered her Inn and noticed her behind the bar.
"Well if it isn't my favorite human." She said with a warm tone. "What will it be?"
"Ah well I just came to ask a favor but since I am here… maybe a beer?" He said offhandedly.
"Certainly." She smiled and then walked over to a tap to begin pouring his beer. "What's the ask, honey?" She said while she poured.
"Salvatore isn't back, right?" He asked.
"No, not as far as I'm aware, then again he said he might be a while."
"Yeah, I figured as much." Adam said as Claire put down the glass in front of Adam. "I'm going to be leaving town for a bit, I don't know when I'll be back yet, it could be a few days, it could be a week, or it could be a month, I just don't know."
"And you want me to tell old grumpy pants that you left town if he gets back before you do?" She inferred.
"Exactly."
"Well I can certainly do that for you." She paused for a moment. "Mind telling me where you are going?"
"The Pier." Adam said simply as he sipped at the Beer.
"Ah, I was there for a few years before I set up shop here. Heard it's changed a lot since I was there."
"How so?"
"Well for one heard they got their ducks in a row now." She chuckled softly. "Things were a mess when I left, but that was decades ago." She shrugged. "They got someone new in charge and set up defenses to stop the late night lakelurk attacks. Heard they even set up a formal school, just like Midway." She smiled.
"That sounds pretty nice actually. Glad I'm not walking into a scary town."
"Oh certainly not." She giggled softly. "But I would warn you that it can be a bit... rougher than Midway, most of the people that live there are more used to handling themselves in fights so don't be offended when they aren't polite." Now it was Adam's turn to laugh.
"I'm not easily offended." He smiled.
"Good, then I think you will be more than fine."
"How much for the beer?" He asked with a raise of his glass.
"For you? It's on the house." She smirked and then walked away to let Adam drink in peace.