I completely relate to that!
Exploring the possibility of emotionally connecting with sentient beings that have no knowledge of human concepts/emotions/values (all the ways an encounter with such a being could go right and all the ways it could go wrong) is something I enjoy a lot. It's something I want to do again in the future.
That wavering between emotional desire and rational logic makes for a compelling conflict because they're not always on completely opposite sides of that conflict; it's not always a fight between what's right and what's wrong. Because of that, the conflict (and hopefully the whole story, by extension) can be messy and awful and beautiful and human.
Also, 'Caphet' would've been a great name for IT! It sounds simple but feels very mysterious and a little regal.