Long ago, Rae had decided that giving up was something that she just wouldn't do. She wanted to outlive this and to be able to do that, she had to have the mental wherewithal. A positive attitude did more for that than anything else could. When she was little, her mother had always told her that you could shake the world or the world could shake you. It was your choice. Rae had taken that advice to heart and was using it well, especially now that her mother was gone.
"No harm done," was all Rae said when the woman mentioned not wanting to frighten her, or meaning to scare her but not to hurt her. "If I thought you'd meant to hurt me, I'd have fought back and then things could have gotten really bad really fast," she smirked in return, holding her own hand out to shake the woman's hand. "Rae. Nice to meet you," she paused, "and the twelve year old version of you, apparently," she teased. "Hey, if we didn't let the twelve year old us out once in awhile, we'd go crazy. Especially with the state of things today."
The woman, Billie she now knew, condoned her Halloween idea and she smiled a little bit more, feeling a bit self congratulatory. "That's what I'm hoping for, anyway. Everyone's so down right now, especially with Carnegie going down a couple of weeks ago, so it's likeā¦ we need whatever we can hold onto, you know? I'm glad you think it's a good idea. I'm sure some grumpus out there will totally take it down but I don't care. I know people who need it. I need it," she added.
At the offer for help, Rae pondered it for a second. "Well, I'd really like to find some orange and black Christmas lights. At least enough to put in the front hall of Grand Central. Maybe we can go hunt there?"