Inevitably and rather unfortunately it reminds me of another two characters who were at school together and meet again after many years, when one continues to use the other's old nickname—a relationship with, incidentally, more than a few other similarities to Raffles/Bunny—but that comparison would never do, now, Spud, would it?

Ohh nooo :( It's interesting when one beloved book reminds you of another, but... yes, sometimes unfortunate as well. (Whyyy are brains like that?)

I'm always super impressed and in awe of your meta/research, and collecting all those endearments sounds like a lot of fun! All those variations of "my dear" are adorable, and (not) very subtle, heh!