my objectively correct opinions on the four main hatchetfield couples pet name usage based almost exclusively off vibes that i thought too much about during an 8 hour black friday shift and then didnāt reference the source material whatsoever so if any of the actual musicals contradict this no they donāt:
emma would never once use a pet name she calls that man paul and thatās it
paul also isnāt huge on nicknames, he might call her āemā or āemsā sometimes, but nothing cutesyĀ
correction: they may, very sarcastically, call each other babe or baby, but donāt get it twisted-- theyāre actively mocking the very concept of the word when they do it
they are canonically a babe couple, they have never once said baby, they use babe and babe only
lex absolutely calls ethan āeā and iāll die on this hill
she also calls him pretty boy in very specific (and probably sexual) circumstances and heās a goddamn puddle every time and you know i'm correctĀ
ethan uses a lot of pet names but somehow he makes it work like itās almost never cringe, heās hitting lex over the head with sweetheartās, and waking her up with ciao bellaās, and really fondly sarcastic sunshineās
they also both use shit like idiot and dumbass as pet names but that seems obvious
god they use the most parent ass pet namesĀ
honey, sweetheart, baby, dear, pumpkin,,, oh man
they absolutely hit each other with āhey gorgeousā āhey handsomeā on the daily
when they were in high school becky probably called him ātommyā, and he called her ābeckā (he still does that in current day)
theyāre probably slightly more reserved with pet names than they were in high school, but they used to be that unbearable ass couple who never used the other personās name it was only the cutesy nickname version or ābabybabehoneyā
peter uses āstephā like a pet name, if he tried anything more than that he would be unbearably awkward with it
(andā¦ he does try, heās called her babe like three times ever, and hits her with a āhey good lookināā or something else adorably lame, and every time he felt really stupid and steph was fucking soup about it like sheās down so bad for this boy)
the only thing he can manage with any dignity is calling her beautiful occasionally and itās only when the energy is absolutley 110% correct
steph is cool enough to use babe liberally, but she usually just uses his name, or calls him āspankoffskiā, yāknow, like a cool person
she sometimes calls him baby, but itās almost only when heās upset or has a nightmare, like it's a very specific concerned steph vibe
