A chuckle left Billy's mouth, figuring that Teddy was too caught up in his I'm-not-good-enough world to have seen the gesture. He walked over to Teddy's bed and sat down with a plop. He felt the fronts of his friend's calves against his back, but they weren't hurting. "You? Transform in front of my parents?" Billy tried to get the joking out of his voice. "I...don't think Mom needs to see you...erm...transform." Because Teddy's clothes were very forgiving! And it had been the first thing that Billy had noticed. But besides that - "they aren't going to ask you to do anything you don't don't want to do - even for their own curiosity. You're my best friend. That's all that matters to them."
And it was all that mattered to Billy. "It's either you come there with me, or I stay here with you. The food's probably kind of good here, but nothing like Mom's." Which was Billy's long-winded way of saying that he still wanted Teddy to come along. Snatching up the bag of jerky, Billy pulled out a piece and took the end off. Tucking it between his cheek and gum, he scooted off the bed and sunk to the floor, head leaning back to lay on the mattress at an angle. "You're great. And I'm great. They already know I'm great, so they'll definitely see that you're great, if only by association."
Billy's blue eyes look at Teddy for perhaps a moment longer than they should before he rolled up and onto the balls of his feet. "Ready to grab some real food now? We'll be the first and get it before any skin forms on the pudding."