Angel Has Never Experienced A Healthy Relationship With His Sexuality.

angel has never experienced a healthy relationship with his sexuality.

when he was alive, he would have had to hide it; maybe a few chaste kisses with guys here and there, maybe a single trip to a basement bar that required knowing the right people and the right password- but never anything substantial, or open, or fulfilling. and even if he could have those experiences, they were dangerous; he’s the son of a high power mob boss, and angel cares so much about his family- about molly- that he would never do anything to jeopardize that.

so when he gets to hell, he’s vulnerable. he’s pent up. he’s spent thirty years in life suppressing his sexuality- but here, with all of the other queers? with all of the people like him? he experiments, and gets a rush because it’s new, and he’s new, and shiny, and easy to manipulate. he has a new body that he needs to understand, anyway, right? there’s no harm in trying things out.

and when valentino gets a whiff of him, when he sees a sparkling new sinner ready and willing to learn in death what he could never have in life, he easily jumps in for the kill.

angel’s foundation of his sexuality is manipulated. it’s not until he meets husk that he, for the first time since he was born, since he was alive, has a sexual experience that’s founded on consent and his pleasure, not just what he’s supposed to like. and that’s terrifying, but it brings its own thrill at the same time. husk is the first person to care about him in public, in ways angel didn’t know he needed, in ways not just focused on coercion or obligation.