Bodi wandered almost all the way around the station before he reached the docking ports. Two were taken, one by the Gel-Squad's personal drop ship and the other by the damaged, non-operational USS Trinity. Even in her semi-destroyed state, she was glorious. Bodi did not hesitate to board the craft, and he rushed in. He hadn't been aboard it since they'd succeeded in defeating Yar. Now that the ship was his to roam, he was excited about getting into every area. And his shifting abilities would be more than enough to get him through any area.
He entered and immediately went for the bridge; since the elevators were offline, he had to use the maintenance shafts to climb all the way to deck one. He had to ooze through the door because it was sealed shut. When he'd gotten inside, it was a playground for him... Bodi certainly had an unorthodox imagination, unlike the other younglings on the station; unknown to his other friends, he had been aboard this ship several times before and had been messing with it, pretending he was the pilot running from the likes of pirates or something equally nasty, or he would pretend that he was the captain, and taking his first command on its first maiden voyage. He'd even developed a spectator; Bodi could sense 'Kipp' messing around in here; before Cal had mentioned his name, Bodi didn't know who was in his shadow; what was he doing? Bodi didn't know, but he kept to himself. To anyone else, it would've been scary to have a shadow that moved on its own, but Bodi thought it was flattering to have a secret admirer.
Occasionally, he'd catch a glimpse of Kipp's eyes, a very distinctive ruby red, that would reflect in the light when Kipp wasn't that careful. Bodi could observe that Kipp that he was curious about him but not convinced about revealing himself. Bodi was okay with that, but he'd been aware of Kipp's presence from day one; Bodi's heightened sense of hearing could detect Kipp's subtle footprints. When Kipp chose to reveal himself, he would. But until then, he'd mess around by himself. The bridge quickly got dull, so Bodi squeezed through the door again and continued wandering around. Bodi's adventure aboard the USS Trinity was filled with excitement and anticipation, even when he was running in the corridor trying to get to his next destination. Despite the ship's damaged state, he felt a sense of reverence as he explored its corridors and compartments. Using his shapeshifting abilities to maneuver through the places where people ordinarily wouldn't go, Bodi made his way to engineering with determination.
Upon entering the engine room, Bodi immersed himself in a world of possibilities. He was currently standing on a catwalk, and he braced himself up against the railing and stared down into the bottomless pits of the engine room. "Woah, far out!" Bodi commented to himself as he viewed the warp core. It was just a big tube in the middle of the room. Usually, it'd glow like a massive glow stick, but the drive was probably locked up from being dormant for so long. His tail moved as the new surroundings sparked his imagination, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride over the ship... until the railing broke. Bodi tried to grab hold of the railing and yelled in terror as he slipped and couldn't catch a proper grip.
As Bodi fell through the air, his mind raced with fear and panic. He braced himself for the impact, knowing that it would be a painful landing. But just as he was about to hit the metal grating below, a shadowy figure swooped in out of nowhere, catching him in mid-air with surprising strength. Bodi felt a gloved hand wrap around his wrist. Bodi's eyes widened in shock as he realized that his mysterious observer had come to his rescue just in the nick of time. The young Omeocoon's eyes glinted with determination as he held Bodi securely, preventing him from crashing to the ground below. His heels braced against the raised trim of the deck.
"Uh... Kipp right? You... you saved me!" Bodi exclaimed, his voice filled with gratitude and relief. Kipp nodded in response, his expression unreadable as he carefully lowered Bodi to the floor. Kipp didn't respond. With a grunt, he pulled Bodi up out of the cold. Once Bodi was safely on solid ground, Kipp stepped back, his gaze flickering briefly to the broken railing above. There was a silent understanding between them, a bond forged in the heat of the moment. For those who knew the original Kipp, he was no longer short. He was 5'7 and had working gloves, boots, and shorts, and they were clean when compared to Bodi's smut-covered body and clothing. But he stuck his hand out anyway.
"What are you doing on my ship?" Kipp asked; he scrutinized Bodi with a distrustful glare and stepped back as Bodi thrust his filthy hand out for Kipp to shake. Kipp was not used to visitors; when Kipp had passed the handshake threshold, Bodi retracted his hand. "Well, I was exploring. I'd like to think that it belongs to Omeocoon... but I guess you could call it your ship--"
"It is my ship." Kipp insisted, "Okay. Well... are you working on it?" Now that Bodi was no longer in danger, Kipp returned to his shadows. "Hey, wait! I'm Bodi." Bodi introduced, Kipp turned his back, "I didn't ask..?" Kipp retorted. "What are you trying to do here?" Kipp reached behind one of the inactive consoles and pulled out a tool kit. He moved toward a wall panel with a bunch of switches and leavers, and to Bodi's surprise, he messed with the controls, and the entire room was suddenly flooded with bright light. Bodi did a long blink, and Kipp's eyes became like ovals as his pupils adjusted to the light. "There. I turn it off to stop people from trespassing; the darkness usually scares explorers. But you're... persistent." Kipp almost growled; Bodi couldn't tell social queues very well. "I was able to reestablish emergency power," Kipp reported as he made his way out; Bodi hopped lightly and charged after Kipp, who seemed to touch various machines and displays and stop along the way to work on different random systems. He was tinkering. Moving in no specific order, one minute, he was messing with the food synthesizers; the next, he was halfway into the water purification system. "What are you doing?" Bodi asked as Kipp kneeled to start work, "I'm returning the water purification system."
"Why?" Bodi inquired; Kipp sighed and struggled to pull the panel off the wall; Bodi stepped in and was able to rip it off after a few pulls; he nearly fell on his butt, trying to get it off. "There you go!" Bodi tossed the panel aside, and it clattered to the ground, "Thank you," Kipp said politely. Bodi stepped forward and leaned in with Kipp, and they both took a closer look into the panel. "Well... as for your inquiry, we still get filthy, as evidenced by you." Kipp's eyes quickly scanned Bodi before continuing, "We need to be able to shower and wash our hands, and some of us breathe air, and for some convoluted reason, those systems are linked. My dad breathes air. I don't want him to die."
"Oh, my dad died when I was like two or three years old." Bodi informed without filter; Kipp nodded, "I'm sorry. I'm angry at my dad, he said some things I didn't like... and I said some things. But I'm almost 16, the age of ascension, so I should be able to make my own decisions!"
"About?" Bodi asked. Kipp paused. He let his tool work as he thought for a while but decided it wouldn't hurt to inform Bodi of the rough patch. "Well... I wanted to throw him a formday party." Formday was the Omeocoon equivalent of birthday, but seeing as how Omeocoon were formed and didn't come out of any womb, the word was more applicable. "Anyway, he thought that it was... inappropriate. But it's so unfair! I love him y'know? I want to do something nice for him!"
"So why didn't you just surprise him?" Bodi asked. He'd silently become Kipp's assistant, handing him tools and other items as Kipp slid under the console and was half enveloped by its internals. "Well, he's trained in martial arts, and I don't want anybody to end up with a broken nose or a femur. I think Cam has enough on his plate."
"Plate?" Bodi asked with a head tilt, and Kipp continued, "Anyway, I've been here for three days; he tried to ground me when I gave him 'attitude,' and of course, he's always right. Uncle Tommy keeps saying he's hardheaded. And I'm starting to believe him."
"Wait? Why are you telling me all this?" Bodi interrupted. Kipp pulled himself from under the console and glared at Bodi, "Because that's why you're here. To bring me back to the station?"
"N--no! I'm exploring, honest!" Bodi laughed nervously, and Kipp continued to eye Bodi suspiciously, "Sure? It's been three days. What speech did my father give you to get you to enlist in his security force? Did he offer you onits?" Bodi shifted uncomfortably under Kipp's scrutinizing gaze, feeling a pang of guilt for confusing him. "No, it wasn't like that at all. I'm here exploring because... well, because I'm curious, I guess. I used to be an explorer; Tommy is my cousin; I don't work for Russell; I've only met him once."
Kipp's expression softened slightly at Bodi's explanation, though he still seemed wary. "Fine, I suppose that's fair enough. But you can't deny that there's something strange about you showing up here now, just when I'm in the middle of my one-person rebellion."
Bodi raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Kipp's mention of a rebellion. "What do you mean? Are you planning something?" Kipp hesitated for a moment as if weighing his words carefully. "Maybe rebellion is too strong a word. Let's say I'm tired of always being told what to do. I want to make my own choices, even if they go against what my father thinks is best for me."
Bodi nodded in understanding, empathizing with Kipp's desire for independence; "Yeah... I know what you mean; my brother also likes to smother me constantly. He made me sit in a corner once; I didn't like that. But you're out here all alone. It's fun, but this is scary... and dangerous." Kipp shrugged a hint of defiance in his eyes. "I know. But it's the only way I know how to take control of my own life. Besides, it's exhilarating, you know?" Bodi couldn't help but smile at Kipp's bravado, though he couldn't shake the feeling of unease about the situation. "Well, just be careful, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt." Kipp's expression softened at Bodi's concern, and momentarily, the tension between them seemed to dissipate as Kipp snickered. "You're one to talk. You literally fell from a catwalk and almost went splat!"
Bodi grinned, scratching the back of his head, "Well... Kai always said I had terrible balance. " Bodi smiled, relieved to have smoothed things over with Kipp as the cat returned his beam, "Well... if you're not here to turn me in... I could use a hand with some of these repairs." Bodi's tail moved happily, "R-really?! Just tell me what you need me to do!" As the two of them set to work together, their unlikely friendship began to blossom.