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Nick is, in demon terms, a baby.
He's in his late twenties, nowhere close to being a toddler. Certainly not in human years and certainly not in the world where he currently roams, tidying his small office. Extravagant costumes are hung in his armoire, a nice wooden piece his father had built him. Duke was the kindest man he'd ever met, even if he was the Devil.
Despite the many outfits he owns, and the fact that fashion is something Nick enjoys when he isn't working with music, he sits in his chair in a pair of simple trousers and a T-shirt. His legs are crossed despite the-ahem- swivel chair he's sitting in, having abandoned the lyrics to Jack Flash's newest song and instead started doodling on the sheet of paper that said lyrics are printed on.
Someone knocks on the door. Probably Pandora, Nick's favorite personal assistant. They work for his father as well (as any great person did), so he knows he can trust them. He calls out their name, to which the person in question opens the door and quietly steps in.
"Darling, what've you got?" He says, observing the items in their hand. They tuck blue-tinted curls behind their ear, setting each of the items on Nick's desk.
"More papers from Flash. He wants to see you tomorrow," Pandora reminds Nick, who pouts. They're much older than him and they act like it. Nick often has to remind himself that they aren't his parents and that he has his very own lord and lady that he calls mum and dad.
"But I'm not going to be here tomorrow, I'll be at our house on Devil Gate, remember?" He knows he's in charge of everyone in his studio but he still pouts. Pandora laughs and runs a hand through their hair, giving Nick a little pat on the head. They've known him ever since he was just a little baby, ever since he was just a small girl.
"I'll tell Jack then. He's been acting a fool of himself ever since he released his first album under your name, Nicky," Pandora rolls their eyes. Nick chuckles.
"I'm regretting giving him what we have. I had some hope, I saw what Mum didn't. I saw a hopeless romantic trying to not be so hopeless and it backfired." Nick sips from a near-empty mug of tea. He's finished his sketch of a little character he's created, setting down his pen to make more tea. He's moved a small kitchen setup into his large office for the sole reason that he gets hungry quite often.
He grabs a blanket from a small box while he's at it, wrapping the soft fabric around himself in a cocoon. When the kettle screeches (a horrid sound, really), Nick pours it into his mug and drops the teabag in. He's made aware of just how tired he is when he has to make the trek back to his chair. He really should be sleeping more.
"'Ave you heard from Mum recently? She said she'd visit me tomorrow when she's done with her work with Dad, y'know, introducing souls to Hell and all," Nick asks. Pandora shakes her head, turning away from the task at hand of filing papers.
"Miss her," Nick huffs. He supposes he understands what Pandora and everyone else means when they call him a baby or 'baby boy'. He does act a bit like a child sometimes.
"I know you do, kid, I know it." Pandora is behind him, tucking hair behind his ears. They always know how to soothe his anxious mind, always know what to do to make him feel better. He doesn't mind it one bit, just simply sketching on the lyric sheet. He's moved onto another character. This one's his favorite, but he stops drawing when his penwork gets sloppy.
He must be quite tired to act the way he is. He hardly ever lets anyone touch his hair, but he's loving the way Pandora works on simply de-stressing him, combing fingers through his dark waves.
"All you needed was time to decompress, didn't you, kid? You should stop getting worked up over Jack Flash, hun. It's not going to do you any good, sweet boy," Their pet names get increasingly sweeter and he loves it. It makes him feel a strange sort of tingly, not the tingly one would feel in the presence of a lover. A different sort, something he doesn't feel often if at all.
"Right," he responds simply, relaxing in his chair. He'd spent many a night there, curled up with his blanket over him. Nick wakes up with a horrible crick in his neck and an ache in his back every time he neglects the need to leave his studio for his apartment, but it's comfortable enough. He can feel himself slipping away from his consciousness already.
"Nick?" Pandora asks, her sweet voice calming. He looks up at her, pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head. His usual shoes have been kicked off to some corner of the office, so it's easy to pull his socked feet into his chair and stretch his hoodie over them.
"Hm?" His responses are becoming increasingly more simple, he can tell. Nick doesn't know why, though, and it's frustrating. He misses his home down there where it's nice and warm and he isn't freezing cold like he is in the Overworld. He misses his soft bed and he misses Hell and Hell (ha), he's starting to miss the dog bed he sits in next to his mum's and pa's thrones, even if it's humiliating at times. He's gotten over it after twenty-eight years.
"How are you feeling, baby?" And Nick giggles— what the hell—and pulls the blanket up his face. He can feel his eyelids getting heavy for some reason, but he brushes it off and sips his tea. Pandora knows his body language, though, and goes ahead and answers their own question.
"Sleepy, hm? Well, I think I've got just the thing for you! If you'd give me a minute." Pandora tries to leave Nick's office but he doesn't let them, hopping all the way off of his chair and down to the ground just to tug at their blouse. He hooks a finger around theirs, pulling them back to where he was sitting.
"Nicky, baby, I've got to go get something for you. Just for you, okay, little love? But it's a surprise. You like surprises, don't you?" He doesn't really like surprises all that much, if he was honest. With all the phone calls, appointments, and clients he has to deal with each day, Nick needs all of his things to be neatly planned out.
So he shakes his head at them, instead pulling on them again until they give in and pick him up. He can feel himself slipping away by the second, giving way to something new.
"I come with," Nick declares. Pandora gives in then, kissing the top of his head and exiting the room. They shield his eyes from judgy employees, kissing his temple as they walk to their own office. Swinging open the door, (with the help of one very eager and very little Nick) Nick's face lights up in joy.
There, sitting in a chair with a little red box in hand, is Duke.
Nick jumps into his father's arms, squirming out of Pandora's and burying his head in the shoulder of Duke's shimmery gold shirt. He can't help but ball his fists in the fabric, shininess appealing to his eyes.
"Daddy!" Nick flashes his father a big grin, curling a hand in Duke's hair, soft chestnut brown strands falling between his fingers. Duke seems content to let him play, smiling up at his son.
"How are we feelin', Nicky?"
"Little," he's practically babbling at this point, tugging ribbons off of the little red box. In it is a matching red pacifier, little red and yellow gems decorating it. Nick's face lights up, a cheery little grin plastered on it. He pops his new gift into his mouth and sucks on it, cuffing his sleeves where he usually bites them.
"Still got all that makeup on, huh, bud?" Duke chuckles. Nick nods eagerly, shaking his head up and down a few more times than typical to listen to the jingling of the charms attached to his pacifier.
"'Dora says it makes me pwetty!" Nick grins alongside his words, tight ringlets bouncing as his head does. Duke runs a hand through it delicately, careful not to separate the neat curls. They're a little loose from Nick playing with them.
He doesn't know what this is, any of it. He doesn't know why he feels so baby-ish and young, but it all feels so right.
"Love you, daddy," Nick nuzzles his head into shiny fabric, twisting buttons and fidgeting with sleeves that aren't his. Duke doesn't care, content to have his son in his arms again.
Nick may not understand the feelings he feels as he slips into little-space, but he damn well knows how to love still. And he loves Duke and Pandora and if Lady Marmalade was there with them all he would tell her he loves her, too.
Maybe that's what all the littleness is.
Love.