tickles is all i need

"What are all of these decorations for?" Sebastian asked, looking at the other houses from the window.

"Those are Halloween decorations. It's a holiday where we celebrate spooky, scary things," Elliot said.

"And the pumpkins?" Sebastian pressed.

"The pumpkins are called jack-o-lanterns," Keith explained. "It's a tradition to hollow them out and carve faces into them. Then candles are put inside the pumpkin to turn them into lanterns and use them as decorations."

"Ah." Sebastian seemed thoughtful for a while as he pondered what else to ask. "Are there special foods for Halloween?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Keith's face lit up. "We dress in costumes and go from door-to-door getting candy from people! So many different kinds of candy, and all totally awesome!"

"Candy? You get candy?" Sebastian's eyes opened wide. "Cool! Modern candy must taste great!"

"It does," Keith assured.

"What's it like?" Sebastian asked.

Keith and Elliot stiffened. Sebastian looked so happy, but he couldn't have normal food, because he was dead. Ghosts couldn't eat, after all. "Well?"

"Chocolate is a lot easier to get now," Elliot said.

Sebastian gasped with glee. "Incredible! Maybe, you could bring me some Halloween food!"

Keith raised a single eyebrow. "Uh . . . that's good and all, but . . . how do you intend on eating it?"

"I'll just possess one of your bodies, of course!" Sebastian giggled. "Easy-peasy, pudding and pie!"

As Sebastian floated around the room, giggling with glee, Elliot and Keith looked at each other and nodded.

They were going to make this a Halloween for Sebastian to remember.

(PAUSE)

It took them two days to gather up enough candy, eventually filling up a drawstring bag full of goodies. "That should be enough," Elliot said.

"And I brought baked Halloween snacks for him," Keith said. "And a candy apple."

"Great! Sebastian's going to love this!" Elliot celebrated. He and Keith went through into Irving Manor, searching for Sebastian. "Sebastian?" Elliot called. "Sebastian?"

"Seb? Sebbie?" Keith teased. The smile was wiped off his face when a chill went through his stomach. "Whoa."

"You don't need to yell, you know," Sebastian said. He'd floated through the beanie-wearing boy's stomach, causing the nausea. "Keith? Are you all right?"

"You floated through him." Elliot gestured to his friend.

"Ah." Sebastian had the decency to feel embarrassed. "Sorry."

"We, uh . . . wanted to get you your first ever pieces of Halloween candy," Elliot said. "I give you permission to possess my body so you can taste and eat them."

Sebastian gasped with joy. "Really? Really and truly?"

"Mm-hmm." Elliot opened the bag, letting the tragically young ghost see the candy he'd brought. "See for yourself."

"We got king-size for you," Keith said, recovering.

Sebastian giggled and did mid-air backflips with joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't even remember what it's like to eat! I miss chewing so much!"

"Well, now you get to become familiar with it again! So possess me and experience it for yourself!" Elliot opened his arms, and Sebastian took it.

Elliot's body became limp for a second for stiffening up again. Sebastian grinned with Elliot's face as he jumped up and down. "I can feel the ground again!" he giggled.

"And now it's time for your first king-sized Mars bar," Keith said, unwrapping it for him. Sebastian took a tentative bite and chewed, pondering the flavour. "What do you think?"

"I . . . I love it!" Sebastian giggled, flapping his hands. "Hand me another thing, immediately! I want to see more!"

"Eat the rest, and then you can have a different one." Keith handed over the rest of the candy bar, and Sebastian devoured it like a hungry wolf. "OK, try a Snickers bar. It has peanuts, by the way."

Sebastian took a bite out of it and made a face. "I don't like it too much," he said, after he swallowed the mouthful. "What else is there?"

(PAUSE)

After an hour, Sebastian had to exit Elliot's body, and he gasped with relief and pain. "Dang, how much did you eat?" Elliot whimpered, holding his stomach.

"So much!" Sebastian chirped. Keith held up a chocolate-covered cookie shaped like a bat.

"You can take over my body this time," Keith said. Sebastian giggled and possessed the boy.

"This is the last thing I have. The rest is for you two to share," Sebastian promised.

"Not exactly in the mood to eat any more candy, buddy," Elliot rubbed his stomach and breathed deeply.

Sebastian looked away as he ate the cookie. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not angry. It makes sense. You don't remember what it's like to be painfully full."

Sebastian left Keith's body and floated next to Elliot. "Are you sure? Neither of you are upset with me?"

"Of course not." Elliot and Keith had positioned themselves on either side of the resident ghost, something the undead young man had only just noticed.

"What is going on? Friends, what are you doing?" Sebastian asked.

"There's one last thing we forgot to mention about Halloween," Keith said, as Elliot experimentally poked at Sebastian's sides. "People will often go to a fake haunted house filled with scare actors for the thrill of it."

"But we won't be doing that. We have a real ghost we can visit," Elliot said, the pokes being more ticklish every time. "And our ghost makes much better sounds."

Sebastian looked between Keith and Elliot, whimpering as he watched the hands get closer. "Friends . . . dear friends. This is unnecessary, I promise you."

"We beg to differ," the living boys chorused, their smiles widening as their fingers stretched, curled, and flexed.

Shrieks of hysterical laughter could be heard from Irving Manor for a long, long time.