How does he feel leaving the ship? Is it a relief, or does he miss it? Is he sad to go? Scared about leaving its safety even though it's cramped? Or is it falling apart when he gets to Erid and no longer a safe haven?

And what does Rocky think about all of this?

The “living ship” genre of starship is pretty common across sci-fi. But why are they always animals?? I want to see a living ship that’s grown.

As in, a massive, still-growing plant starship that photosynthesizes with raw, unfiltered starlight and drifts through the universe. The bigger the starship, the older it is (and likely, assuming a sci-fi universe where everyone wants everyone else dead), the better it is in combat.

If you still want to keep the whole color/smooth lines and weird shapes vibe that so much of the living ship genre loves, then just make it a fungus. Those things are terrifying. (And the concept of starfighter spores ejecting from gills along its sides or something is cool as hell.) or maybe the fungus takes over destroyed ships and you get these massive fungi-covered ships drifting through space and killing things.