this brief scene with angel and val is insanely compelling to me. it's about the way angel tries to play with val when the car door first opens, putting on this little theatrical performance to invite val to comment on it even before he's had a chance to gauge val's mood. and once he does, when val is just cold in response, he's confused and tense because he was clearly expecting something else and now val has gone off script, which immediately knocks him off kilter. from that point forward he's looking back at val repeatedly for cues that val won't give him, which also doesn't seem to be normal for the way it makes angel visibly uncomfortable. like, in a normal situation, would val have laughed and given him teasing feedback when he asked for it in the car? would val have told him a little about the client to prepare him and make him more comfortable? does angel normally feel like he and val are co-conspirators in this performance they've rehearsed a million times, rather than val just shoving him out on stage alone with no lines prepared? either way, it's obvious that angel's over-the-top hypersexual mask is something that he lets down around val, at least to the extent that when he does it in front of him, it's for a joke or as a reflex and not in earnest. it's almost the same way he's been joking with husk all season. he joins val in leaning against the door, hesitates, takes a deep breath, and when val is still silent and standoffish against all these small bids for connection angel finally gives up, ducks into the room, and puts the mask back on. it's painful because you can see how hard he was trying to figure out why val was so unhappy, you can see his multiple attempts to diffuse the weird tension and make things feel normal again. plus, seeing valentino, who is normally so loud and abrasive when he's angry, act so stony and curt like this with angel in particular is incredibly eerie and really makes you feel the mounting dread of the whole scene alongside angel
