"Ianto! I need that file on the air-space incursion from May 2006…. Very early in the month. Think it was the 4th." Jack chuckled, "May the forth be with you."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Right. Two ticks."

Ianto had no difficulty locating the requested file. What was stuck in the drawer with it, however, made him sigh. A crimson silk tie, peeking out of the very folder Jack needed. Sweet, or obnoxious, he wasn't sure which.

"3rd of May," Ianto said when he deposited the file on Jack's desk a few moments later. "And the tie is very nice."

Jack looked up at him. "Of course it is, you have good taste… and a good taste. Um… is there a reason you're 'prompting' compliments?"

"I'm not prompting," Ianto said, slightly offended. "It was a 'thanks.'"

"Thanks for what?"

"For the tie."

"I don't remember giving you that one."

Ianto took a long breath. "Not this one. The one you cleverly hid in the file you just 'happened' to need."

"I hid a tie in a file in your archives? That's news to me."

"Bloody hell, Jack. What's the point in giving a gift if you're suddenly going to go all shy and refuse to even graciously accept the gratitude with a 'you're welcome'?"

"Ianto… I didn't. Seriously."

"No? Then who? Janet?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you'd be less annoyed with a Weevil pawing through your files than me doing the same?"

"Because one is an unfortunate, heedless alien that just happened to end up stuck underground in the middle of Cardiff through no fault of its own, and the other is a Weevil. Anyway, thank you, whether you admit it or not."

"I didn't…!"

"Ok. You didn't. I'm putting on coffee. Having some now or would you rather leave it for later?"

"I'll have a cup, thanks. But I really don't know anything about a tie."

"Alright," Ianto said, surreptitiously rolling his eyes as he left Jack's office. Opening the coffee cupboard for the canister, Ianto found 3 bars of his favorite, extra-dark chocolate tied with a thin red ribbon. He sighed deeply. Well, at least Jack hadn't been 'pawing' through the coffee to cleverly hide chocolate. He supposed Jack would deny depositing those as well and vaguely wondered what else he'd be finding stashed around the Hub like Easter eggs.

Ianto almost groaned out loud when he realized what all this was… February 7. A week before Valentine's Day. Ianto absolutely despised Valentine's Day and everything to do with it and had done since childhood. The ritual of exchanging little cards with classmates was agonizing for a shy lad, especially once he began to realize that he fancied some of the other lads as well as the girls.

Ianto unwrapped a chocolate bar and put it on the coffee tray with the coffees for him and Jack. Two could play this game, Ianto thought, heading up.

"Someone left some very nice chocolate in my coffee cupboard," Ianto said, setting the tray away from Jack's train wreck of a desk and handing him a coffee and half a chocolate bar on the napkin. "Thought I'd share with you."

"Oh? Thanks," Jack said, shoving some requisition forms aside to give Ianto a place to set his coffee for a few minutes. "This really is good."

"Should be. They're about 12 pounds per bar."

"Nice. So… somebody gave you a tie and chocolate? Am I facing competition? And, if so, how stiff is it?"

Ianto ignored the last question. "Don't know, maybe you are. I'd rather like to know who, though. I mean, I'm reasonably sure Gwen hasn't gone off Rhys," or you, he thought, "and neither do I think Owen's gone ben-… uh, for blokes. Tosh, maybe? Though, she's hardly the type to play hide-and-seek – don't say it!"

"Well, I think it's sweet, but you are right. Does seem out of character for any of our crew. Do you think there's something going on we don't know about?"

"Maybe it's Myfawny – the dark chocolate and all. Except I don't think her fingery-things are dexterous enough to tie the little ribbon these were wrapped in. Maybe she had some help?"

"How'd she get down to the archives?" Jack posed.

"Fair point. She must be having a lot of help, then."

"Ok, but seriously. What do you think this is all about?"

Ianto let out a long breath. "Alright, Jack. Is there a reason you're dragging this out? I really don't like Valentine's Day at all, but I'm not going to have a go at you for giving me a couple things."

"Ianto, for the last time, I swear I had nothing to do with this. Uh… I had something else in mind, kinda, nothing big, I promise."

Ianto looked long and hard at Jack, but saw no sign of his usual 'tells.' "Alright, then, I think I really do need to know what's up. Probably just Owen thinking he's taking the mickey, but I have a low tolerance for Valentine's Day and combined with my equally low tolerance for practical jokes, this isn't very amusing."

"You're probably right. Should I have a word with him?"

"No," Ianto said, "that would make it worse. I don't need anyone to fight for me. I may just remind him that I wield complete and total control over the amount of blood in his caffeine-stream. That usually sorts him for a while."