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Lily was...well. She had never been particularly excited for Halloween -- something told her that this year, perhaps, things would be different; as Juliet, in her drapes and her black, she would fit into the costumed masses so very well -- but overall, still, she lacked any real excitement.

She volunteered every year to decorate, though. It was nice, to help with something other people weren't interested in -- she didn't need the thanks. Just the rhythm and familiar pattern of the decorations going up on the walls, the faux-cobwebs in the trees, a fake tombstone in the grass. She could have known it by heart if her memory was better --

but it wasn't.

Lily stepped down off a stool, her arm sore from straining for a banner that was just a little too high on one side, and smiled polite as anything at Rabia. "You're a volunteer, right? I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone else around yet."

"No offense taken," Lily smiled. "I'm one of the first people here every year -- it's no surprise. Most of the people with the materials won't be here for another half an hour; I like to get a head start." She motioned behind her, pointing out a box of plastic spiders. "If you're worried about where to put things, just place them wherever they look best -- nobody actually minds the details. I tend to start with the cobwebs and then add on, but I don't mind if you have any ideas."

"The spiders come in three different sizes -- the smaller box is glow in the dark," Lily instructed, with the tone of someone who only knew this through heavy repetition and not via any actual ability of their own, "and glow-in-the-dark decorations normally sit on the outside walls of the school, so that they can provide visibility after all the students have gone home." She had no apparent reaction to Rabia's excitement, simply continuing through her duties, walking as she talked. "Tombstones haven't arrived yet -- they should be here within the hour, and those go in the green. We use the same cobwebs for interior decorations and on the green, but interior they're larger. Does that make sense?" She seemed, quite honestly, completely oblivious to Rabia's attempts to get her name.

"I don't have any interest in dressing up, actually. I prefer to be helpful - I don't like candy very much, so there's no need for me to go trick-or-treating. And no toilet paper. That's a rule that's been here for years, so we don't look like we got hazed, I believe."

"I've lived in Destiny City my entire life," Lily patiently explained, her expression unchanging. "It's rather dangerous outside, with costumed vigilantes, so I prefer to stay in and keep safe." She hoisted a plastic box of stickers over her shoulder, looking closely at the label for a few seconds before it became clear it was just more bats.

Ugh. Bats.

Honestly, maybe she wouldn't put up bats this year. It seemed a little tasteless. She'd have to ask.

"I don't have a sweet tooth, and I generally don't enjoy celebrations in the first place. I'm happy to help out with product creation, but when it comes to the actual excitement --" she shook her head - "it's simply not my thing. I appreciate people can enjoy it, but I have no feelings on it."

"There's youths in sailor suits, and youths to adults in military-esque uniforms," she demurred. "I've only met a few, personally, but they generally seem nonviolent -- but this is a very large city, and as far as I can tell, their organizations are equally large. If you know of coming-of-age magical stories, they're dressed a little like that." Lily placed the bats down upon a table with an involuntary huff.

"It's believed they're the reason for the unusually high homeless death rate in this city." Her voice held a tinge of concern, but -- she had never personally seen a dead person. She had no reason to worry. "And as far as I go...I don't really celebrate my birthday, actually. Gifts are nice, but I don't need much, and I'd much rather spend time helping other people when my life is perfectly safe."

"I'd presume they attack each other," Lily said offhandedly, "but when they do that, they're not harming civilians, are they? So it's really no problem, then. As I said, all my encounters with them have been nonviolent if unhelpful, so I don't know much. They're all very secretive gangs, if that's what they are."

Lily didn't wink back; in fact, she wasn't even looking at Rabia. "My name is Lily, since you asked."

Lily just sighed. She liked being helpful, but not like this.

...It was going to be a very long morning.