Hey so Uh have a headcannon of mine, I think Max might be depressed or in general just have something going on where he can't really express himself properly. I don't have a whole lot to back up the depression thing besides him no longer being interested in Sudoku after he "realized it didn't involve ritual suicide", him asking Sam for a copy of Self Loathing Weekly, that his Sloth vice is very obviously depressed and that his superego hates him, (1/2)
Something I’ve noticed is how much it’s referenced that Max takes some kind of medication for supposedly some mental illness. This could be possibly depression, or something entirely different. Though to me his sloth vice dose raise a big red flag over depression, seeing as his Violent Vice and his Gluttonous Vice represent two of the most noticeable points of his personality, so it’s odd to show the third Vice that depressed without it meaning anything.
Either way this ask made me want to draw Max being comforted by Sam. Max really dosent expresses other emotions that much as you’ve said, but I’d like to think when he feels safe enough he’d be able to let his emotions go a bit. He’d most likely still have a hard time expressing most of his feelings and emotions but it’s more than he let’s show publicaly. Sam is very understandable and is willing to help out in any way he can.
This is an idea I want to look into and do proper research for