TL;CR

[cyclists]

TL;CR MEME

1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Endure everyone else reading your comment like the vultures they are.

Comments

[nonbelligerent]

Shess's general first impression of Val was "very chill nonhuman who likes humans, that's nice (sincerely)", but the exact moment Val really started endearing himself was when Shess realized he wasn't torn up over killing. NOT BECAUSE SHESS NECESSARILY THINKS THAT ITSELF IS GREAT but because it confirmed that Val had a different morality than humans, and while Shess likes humans, he's not used to talking with so many at once and it got kind of tiring, so it was a relief to have someone who thought more like a sura. Shess doesn't care what people think of him/if they start side-eyeing him when he gets shady, but it's a nice change of pace to be in a judgment-free zone, which Val offered.

Val was also straightforward and honest AND HAHA SHESS CAN'T LIVE LIKE THAT but it did make Val very trustworthy. It's why he was the one person Shess told about the endgame condition that wasn't on the basis of them probably knowing already/going to learn soon—he trusted that Val would be rational about the info and wouldn't go around spreading it at the drop of a hat, and also he needed to use Val's connections.

So Val was a good and reliable ally (if dumb, Shess realized he was pretty dumb), and he was also very kind to Shess, which was a bonus. They're very different people, but Shess respects Val's sense of honour and thinks that his very sincere attitude is a breath of fresh air among people (like himself) who constantly want something from people/expect others to want something from them.

also he has absolutely no clue that val kind of has a crush on him