Chapter 31 - 31

Words : 1231 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

As soon as Adam entered his room he began to take off all of his gear, practically throwing it off himself, overjoyed to be rid of the burden of all his excess. Most of it ended up on his bed, but his body armor and helmet ended up on the floor like discarded clothing. He sighed in relief as he took a seat on his bed. His bed. That was an interesting thought. This was most certainly not home. It was a rented room, a rather expensive rented room at that. But even though it hadn't been long since he came out of the vault he already began to look at this room with a sense of comfort and familiarity. It would be a bit much to call it "home" but the bed was his and that alone was a rather impressive realization. However Adam couldn't get comfortable yet, he really needed to wash, no matter how tired he was he wanted to wash up first, then, after he was cleaned, he could sleep. So, with a bit of effort, he bid himself to stand and headed into the bathroom to clean up. Adam spent the next few hours sleeping, he needed it. He wasn't exhausted, but he was worn out, he had hardly slept the night prior afterall, not to mention the amount of walking he had done between the last two days. So having a comfortable bed to rest on again was a boon far too great to ignore. Once he had slept he got up and headed back outside to the Inn. Mandy was tending bar while chatting to some customers, though upon seeing Adam she nodded his way. "Sleep well, Scaver?" She teased. "Like a log." Adam returned. "You want food now?" "Yes, ma'am." "Alright let me cook it up for you." She said as she turned away from the two customers she was talking to, to begin cooking for Adam. Meanwhile Adam made his way to the Jukebox and spun it around, opened it up, and then began the last bit of repairs he needed to do. The jukebox was playing music when Adam walked over but he had to turn it off to not electrocute himself while he worked. Once it was off he plugged in the missing vacuum tube and then pulled out a voltage tester that he took from his tool belt to make sure it was transferring electricity right, after which he sealed it back up, turned it back on, and was happy to see that it was working again with no problems. "Well, looks like until something else breaks your jukebox is back to working order." Adam said as he sat down at the bar. "Wonderful. Honestly, before you came along I was just about to junk the damn thing, so two free meals for a repair is a steal in my book." She laughed softly. "Now if I could only figure out how to make the Jukebox charge a cap for a song instead of playing for free." "Well it would require some modification, but it's not too hard." Adam said casually as he watched the people in the Inn, noting that it was not too full at this hour. "You can?" She asked surprised. "You really are full of surprises." "Yeah, I mean I'd just need to widen the slot for the quarters and swap out the chute for something bigger, the actual mechanism for accepting quarters is just a motion detector, It's not that advanced." He laughed and then added: "I used to use old washers instead of quarters to get the machines to think I had money when I was a kid." "How much will such a job cost?" She said, turning her head around with a raised eyebrow. "Well…" Adam paused. "Let me think on that." He chuckled. A few minutes later Adam had a hot plate of food in front of him, some sort of meat covered in sauce. He had the wherewithal not to ask what kind of meat it was, he trusted Mandy not to poison him and knew that whatever it was, was likely not something that would sound appetizing. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. He also had his ice-cold Nuka Cola to accompany his meal. His mouth was already watering, afterall he hadn't eaten or drank anything yesterday, he might need to fix that, bring a canteen with him, but right now he wanted to focus on his meal. And so he ate. Damn was it good. He didn't know what kind of meat it was but it was the perfect texture, just the right amount of chewy and it was cooked all the way through, also the sauce was nothing like he tasted before and it was a very full and rich flavor. Then there was the Nuka Cola. Holy shit did it hit the spot. Maybe if he had gone a few weeks or months without having drank a Nuka Cola the experience might have instead been transcendent, but as it was it was simply heavenly. He was always a fan of Nuka Cola, it was his go-to brand after all. He had tried the others, the various types of Nuka Cola flavors and Vim! He had even had a chance to drink a Sunset Sarsaparilla which was uncommon this far east. But despite all the different flavors Nuka Cola original flavor was always the best. And right now, after a harrowing journey it hit him in the right way. The look of satisfaction was probably evident on his face as it caused Mandy to chuckle. "Seems someone is enjoying his meal." She teased. Adam blushed a bit and then covered his mouth. "Ah, just uh… very hungry." He laughed, slightly embarrassed. "I can see that." She grinned, and then walked off to handle other customers, satisfied with her teasing. The rest of his meal went quietly until Salvatore walked out of his room, he looked like he just woke up as he was yawning as he closed the door behind him. "Mandy, give me a double." He said as he strode to his spot at the bar. "The usual?" She asked as she walked back to the bar from a table she was waiting at. "The usual." Salvatore returned. "Oh, Salvatore. Catch." Adam said as he reached into his pocket and then grabbed the cigarette pack and underhand tossed it to Salvatore. He caught it easily, looking at it for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Oh!" He said with recognition once he realized what it was. "It's a gift, I found it while Scaving, figured you might like it." Adam said with a grin. "Well, hell. That's pretty sweet kid." He said as he grinned, pulling one of the cigarettes out and putting it in his mouth but not lighting it. "I appreciate it." He laughed softly, which wasn't the most appealing sounding laugh but it was the first time Adam had heard him laugh at all. "You know, for a smoothskin, you ain't that bad." He said with a grin to him as Mandy brought him a bottle and a glass to pour himself a drink. "Thanks kid." "No problem." Adam smiled at him as he sipped at his Nuka Cola.

Chapter 31 - 31

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