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Goofy sits on his living room chair, alone. He exhales a deep sigh that tastes of sorrow when it releases, staring down at Max's album full of baby pics from way back in the day. They certainly bring him to a happier time, and for a moment, he feels relieved. But then the reality sets in again, he can't keep holding onto him like this, it's not healthy for neither him, nor Max. Still, he could probably use a bit of medicine for the subpar headache that's irritating him. Maybe that would take all the bad stuff on his mind away, even if it's only for a moment or two.
But as he's heading for the medicine cabinet in his bathroom, he hears a knock at the door. Goofy wonders who could be here at this kind of hour, and what they want. Despite the questions these thoughts evoke, Goofy's a man who will never turn down an opportunity to speak with whoever shows up at his doorstep, and he's not gonna stop that now just because Max is gone. He swiftly moves to the door, opening it to find Max and one of his friends from college standing behind him. Goofy's eyes nearly pop out of his head at the sight of this.
"H-Hi dad..." Max says sheepishly, giving a shy greeting wave.
Goofy's face lights up with joy, it truly is Christmas.
"Maxie! Welcome back!" Goofy yells, pulling his boy in for a very loving squeeze as he chortles with glee.
"Aha! It's great to see you too dad," Max says, patting him on the back. His words noticeably surprising Goofy.
The other man steps inside carrying what must be a boatload of presents all in his arms, coughing to gain the attention of both Goofs.
"Mr. Goof, a pleasure. Bradley Uppercrust, the III'rd." the man states, introducing himself verbally before reaching his hand out for a proper greeting.
Goofy blinks at the man for a second before dropping his son to shake his hand giddily.
"Goofy! Nice to meet'cha Bradley!" Goofy says, chortling delightedly as he shakes Bradley's hand with more speed than Bradley anticipated.
"Careful! You're gonna make me-" Bradley yells panicky, proceeding trip in place as Goofy attempts to help him keep the presents from falling out of his arms.
They succeed, thankfully.
"Phew!" Bradley and Goofy exclaim at the same exact time.
"Anyway, what brings you boys here? N-Not that I ain't happy to have company, just you know uh-" Goofy stammers, his tone hinting at glee, but also with some discomfort present.
"Dad, Dad, it's alright. We wanted to come here," Max states, rubbing his behind since Goofy dropped him rather harshly by accident.
"Really? Wow, well I'll be!" Goofy chortles excitedly.
"Uhm, Max? Can I set any of these presents down yet?" Bradley questions.
"Huh? Oh-, sorry Brad! Y-Yeah, there should be space inside my old bedroom." Max says.
"Okay! I'm on my way!" Bradley shouts, scuttling his way towards the room with haste.
Once Bradley's gone, the room fills with awkward silence as the two Goofs avoid eye contact (at least, the direct kind) and scratch at the back of their heads with a look of guilt behind both of their eyes. They both try to speak, but they do it at the same time.
"I-" they both say, at the same time.
They pause, thinking of how to begin speaking to one another properly.
"You-" they both say, again at the same time.
They both pause again to scratch their heads while avoiding eye contact outside of the occasional glance made at each other.
"...I thought you said you wanted me out of your life...that you were ready to move on without me." Goofy says, taking initiative.
Max sighs regretfully, partially cringing at his own words.
"That's your harsh interpretation, what I said and meant was that I was ready to move on without your tendency to cling onto me." Max clarifies.
"That doesn't make it sound much better Maxie..." Goofy informs, making Max sigh regretfully again.
"I know dad, I know..." he says, almost under his breath.
They both allow silence to take over again as they ponder on what to bring up/say next.
"Dad, listen. I love you, I always will. But even if what I said was harsh, especially with the way I put it...I still kinda stand by it." Max says.
"You have every right to do so Maxie, I'm sorry for taking up loads of your time that should've been spent with someone else or on something else..." Goofy says, his lip quivering slightly when he pauses to choke his on emotions.
"I just-, I guess I'm just....afraid." Goofy says.
"...Afraid? Afraid of what?" Max inquires.
Goofy takes in a deep breath.
"...Afraid of never holding that special place in your heart I once had, or I guess...I'm more afraid you'll never want to spend time with your lame old dad doing his lame old activities..." Goofy says.
"Like Horseshoe?" Max jests, making Goofy chuckle.
"Yes, like Horseshoe." Goofy replies.
Max places a comforting hand on his father's shoulder, finally making eye contact with him.
"Dad, I'd never wanna do that to you. I'll make time for you whenever man, just not always, okay?" Max says.
Goofy's face quivers as he holds back the full scope of his emotions, wiping away the small amounts of tears that end up leaking through with a single finger.
"Garwsh, every time we have a big fight like this...it always feels like the end for us don't it?" Goofy says.
"Yeah, I know what you mean..." Max says.
They both smile as they laugh at the sheer ridiculousness that their minds imagined from a place of pure paranoia. They both envelop each other in a loving embrace in celebration of this heartwarming moment they share. They pull away and look at each other, reassured of and comforted by their love for each other.
"Alright Max I got the presents put awa-, am I interrupting a tender moment?" Bradley questions.
"No Brad, you're good. In fact, I think it's time we got started on baking cookies, right dad?" Max says.
"Oh, of course! I'll get the equipment ready!" Goofy says, trotting quickly into the kitchen to get things set up for baking.
Bradley walks over and sits next to Max.
"So when are you gonna tell your dad about, itttttt?" Bradley asks.
"About what?" Max questions.
"About us nimrod, isn't that one of the reasons you wanted me to come along?" Bradley says.
"Oh yeah, right sorry! Uhh-, hey dad!" Max calls out.
"Yeah Maxie?" Goofy calls back.
"Me and Bradley are dating!" Max yells, while Bradley nods approvingly at nothing but Max's words.
"Good for you! Just wait 5 more minutes and we'll be ready to cook!" Goofy yells.
Bradley creeps his hand over onto Max's and they both romantically lock eyes together.
"We've got five minutes champion, what you wanna do with that time~?" Bradley whispers flirtatiously.
"I think...I wanna do this," Max says, passionately laying a smooch on Bradley's lips.
The smooching quickly turns into kissing, and doesn't progress any further since Goofy comes out.
"Hey y'all-" Goofy ceases, momentarily stunned at the sight of Max and Bradley making out.
"Oh you scamps, there's plenty of time for that back at college. Now c'mere! It's baking time!" Goofy says, gesturing for them to follow him into the kitchen.
They both do just that and head for the kitchen, where they bake a lot of cookies and have a great time doing so, together.