"Here, kiddo, treat her with some respect," Little John said, as Much went to swing the pillow at Will again. Much was suddenly conflicted, torn between the need to make fun of Little John for gendering a pillow and the sudden, familiar comfort of Little John calling him kiddo. There'd been a time, back a long ways now, where Much had looked a whole lot younger, and Little John'd rarely used his name, calling him kiddo and sport all the time instead.
Much hadn't realised how much he'd missed it. He grinned, hugging the pillow, chip propped on top of it. "Pints!" he said, enthusiastically.
And then because he couldn't help it: "I can't believe you call your pillow a her."