"Sydney, all the faculty are participating, including the teaching assistants," Mindy said, following her down the hallway. "It's part of the Christmas spirit that the holiday committee came up with. And everyone has a limit of $15, so it's really not much. Also…"

Sydney looked at her sharply as she trailed off. "Also?"

"Your name may have been in there all ready. And someone might have pulled it."

"Mindy!" Sydney stopped walking to face Mindy. "What do you mean might have pulled it?"

"I don't actually know," was the nervous reply. "We're not allowed to share the names until we give out the gifts on the 23rd so I don't know who's left to choose from."

"Fine," she said, gritting her teeth before reaching into the proffered Christmas themed box and pulling out a small piece of paper. There didn't seem to be a lot of names left, making it more likely she had all ready been drawn. When she had the time she'd find out who decided to put her name into the box.

"Don't show me!" Mindy said, turning her head away, her brown curls bouncing gently. "I need to go run down Stanovich. He still needs to pull a name too."

Sydney sighed as she watched Mindy walk away before opening the paper to read the name. Greg Krepchek. Great. The list of things Sydney knew about him was incredibly short and mainly consisted of three things: he worked at Trinity, he was an English professor, and he wore clothes from the last century. Books? English professors loved books, didn't they? Sydney discarded the idea immediately. He probably had all the books he needed. Figuring out what to get him was going to be incredibly time consuming, especially in light of the token she had received that morning that looked like it might lead to a necklace worn by Alix, mistress to Ferdinand I of Hungary.

Nigel pulled the paper from the box, seriously regretting not having gone for that coffee from the kiosk across campus. It had a better brew than what was in the office and it had the distinct advantage of being somewhere he normally wasn't.

"Okay, so now that you have that, you have until the 23rd to get that person a gift. No more than $15. We'll all meet in the gymnasium and hand them over."

"I can't believe I got roped into this," he grumbled to Karen after Mindy left to shake down whoever was left. Judging by the small number of papers left in the bowl, there weren't many.

"Maybe it'll be fun," Karen said optimistically. "Who'd you get anyway?" She came around her desk to look at the name with him. "Renee Sooth. Isn't she the TA who's been leaving you love notes?"

"I can't get her something! It'll look like I'm – like I'm accepting her advances or something. Which I'm not!" He was aware he sounded at least a bit maniacal but he was sure the situation warranted a bit of manic energy.

"Woah there Nige, I don't think anyone's going to think that. Everyone knows how this works and that you pulled a random name out."

Nigel glared at Karen. "Didn't she say that the way the books landed on the floor when she dropped them were a sign that we should be together? Just because the 'N' on one cover and the 'R' on another was showing?"

"Right." Karen looked at him with sympathy.

Nigel threw the paper onto the desk and dropped into his chair. "I wonder if anyone will trade with me."

"You might get Emma."

Nigel groaned and put his head in his hands, his fingers digging into his hair. "This is awful. Whose idea was it to do a faculty swap?" It was just Karen's luck to get out of it by booking off for holidays early.

"It won't be so bad. You just need to stop being so sweet to all the ladies, Nige. You're all ready cute. The extra makes you irresistible."

Ignoring the warmth creeping into his face at the compliment he let his mind wander with possibilities. After a minute of misery he jolted upright in his chair. "I've got it! Sydney."

"What?"

"Sydney! They all think we're dating anyway. It won't cause any more rumours than what are all ready circling around." Without mentioning that he'd really like to get her something anyway, he turned in his chair to face Karen. "You have to help me find out who has Sydney."

Rounding the corner and aware of her dwindling energy, Sydney found herself in a narrow street of shops, people milling about. Perfect – she could get lost in this. Making a quick decision she darted into one of the shops, the bell clanging rather than tinkling as she burst through the door. Closing it hastily she gave the woman behind the counter what she hoped was a charming smile before she turned towards the wares, watching the street through the shop windows. The men who had been chasing her slowed to a walk in the busy street, glancing around and peering into the odd shop. As one of them passed the shop she was in she turned quickly, pretending to look at the items in front of her when one of them caught her eye. Listening intently for the jingle of the bell on the door, she reached for the book that had her attention.

It was an old one, no name on the spine. Intrigued she opened it, finding handwritten notes on unlined pages, written in what looked like a dip pen. The more she read, the more astounded she became. It looked to be an account of the Knight Crighton, a friend of Nigel's childhood hero Gabriel. How had it ended up here?

"It was donated by a couple when they took over the castle Csabdi," the shopkeeper said in Hungarian as though reading her thoughts. Seeing that Sydney understood, she continued. "The new owners did not care for the items, did not care for history. So they are here. Nobody here wants to buy them though."

Sydney weighed the book in her hand. It wasn't authenticated, but she knew that it was possible she held a true artefact in her hand, one that Nigel would undoubtedly appreciate, more than even she did. Giving him a present though, would be completely out of left field. They hadn't done a gift exchange in the three years they'd known each other. Unless… If she could figure out who had Nigel for the Secret Santa, she could see if they'd trade. She paid the shopkeeper and stepped out onto the street, book safely tucked away in her satchel with Alix's necklace.

Even with Karen working her way through the gossip mill, something she wouldn't be able to keep helping him with as this was her last day in office, he was having the worst luck.

"I found Jordans and she swapped with me, so I have Taylor now," Nigel said to Karen. He was slumped in his chair again, the desk in front of him littered with abandoned end of term papers that he was supposed to be grading. "At this rate I'll figure out who has Sydney by next year." He had traded names with several people at this point, the cost of finding out the names some people had, while others needed some cajoling, and others he had even had to resort to bribery. He was now proctoring for the next three days, eating into the amount of time he had to do any of Sydney's grading. And he didn't feel any closer to finding out who had her.

"It's not that bad. I did find out Erikkson has Matthews, and that it's no one in the languages department."

At that Nigel sighed in relief. He wouldn't have to talk to Renee directly.

"You'll get there Nige." Karen paused shelving the pile of books in her arms. "Hey, Nigel? When you do get Sydney's name, what are you getting her?"

Nigel let his head drop to his desk with a thud.

Bloody hell.

"Revealing names isn't really in the spirit of things, is it?" Stephen McLean was saying as Sydney all but chased him down the hall towards his office.

She forced a smile. "Who's to say what exactly is the spirit of things?"

McLean looked at her in disbelief. "Why the very nature of the game itself."

"You know, historically, there will always be some gamesmanship with these types of things. It's human nature to do so is it not?" she tried to appeal to the sociology professor's interests.

They came to a stop at his office door where he turned to her. "I suppose it is." He looked at her over his glasses. "However, I am uninterested in playing games within the games." Taking out his key and placing it in the lock, he dismissed her.

"I know who has your name."

He stopped. She had him. Human nature.

He didn't know why he hadn't done this in the first place. It would've saved him numerous hours, both in tracking people down and the amount of actual work he now had to do. Karen was positively wonderful at her job, and at getting what she needs, but she was on a time crunch doing her actual job, never mind helping him out. And if he needed gossip, there was one person who knew more than anyone.

"You do know this is gonna cost you though, right Honeybun?"

That was why.

"Claudia, please. I just need to know who has Sydney's name. And I know you know."

"Of course I do." There was the sound of gum popping and Nigel pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it in disgust. He put the phone back to his ear to catch her next words. "I need you to do something for me though. A tête-à-tête."

"If it's a dress, I don't know if I can help you. And it's tit for tat."

"Whatever. And ugh, no. You've all ready proven useless when it comes to getting me dresses I want. No. I need two things."

Nigel sighed. "And they are?"

"First, you need to tell me everything you can about Preston." Nigel shuddered. He didn't know when they had met, he didn't know why they had hit it off, and he didn't want to know anything more than he all ready did – which was that Claudia and Preston had gone out a couple of times and much to his chagrin it had gone well for them.

"He's a smarmy – "

"No," Claudia interrupted sternly. "I want proper information. None of that he's a git stuff."

Nigel winced at Claudia's imitation of him. Surely he didn't sound like that at all. "And the second?"

"You have to tell me all about how it goes with Syd. I mean, you're picking something really nice for her, right? You're not actually going to listen to the $15 rule? This is Sydney. Like, hello, you've had a thing for her for ever. This isn't just a Secret Santa, this is monumental. You've never done gifts before, right?"

There was a growing sense of panic at her words. Maybe he should just stop where he was and get something for McLean. Monumental was what he was trying to avoid. He didn't want to blow things up, he just wanted to give something to someone he loved admired venerated respected. Maybe he should go home and pretend he was too sick to come in.

"Claudia, I don't –"

"Don't chicken out now. You need to do this." Her tone softened. "This is going to be a good thing. I know it."

He took a deep breath, steeling himself. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? He looked at the office door, to check that Sydney wasn't ready to come in. "What do you want to know about Preston?" He winced again, this time at the squeal – nobody's pitch should get that high.

Sydney sighed as she stood in one of the university's cafeterias, wrapped package in hand. The area had been decorated with garland over railings, and Santa hats placed on the tops of registers, while paper snowflakes blended into the white walls, with a large "Merry Christmas" banner taking up a lot of space. The refreshment table was quickly being picked over, although Sydney was pleased to note that the punch had been spiked all ready as she sipped from her cup. She wondered which of her colleagues had done it.

Professors, teaching assistants, and secretaries milled about, nametags on chests. Everyone was holding onto some small, wrapped package, side eyeing everyone else to see if they could work out last minute who had their names.

"Hey," said a familiar voice. Nigel had appeared to her left, also holding onto a gift – a large one. A twinge of irritation shot through her, making her brows furrow. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She tamped down the irrational feeling. "How did the exam go? That was what, your second one today?"

"Third," he groused.

She looked at him in surprise. "You only had three to do for me, and those are done. How did you end up with so many?" He muttered something unintelligible. "What was that?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it."

Deciding she didn't want to know, she turned her attention to Mindy who had stepped up to a podium placed for the event.

"Testing… testing…" she said into the microphone, sending a wave of feedback through the room. There was a moment where several people toyed with the speakers around the room. "Sorry about that. Welcome to our first Secret Santa. The holiday committee thought this would be a great way to get to know some of our peers…"

Sydney let her mind drift, not interested in the speeches. Would Nigel like the book? She dismissed the thought immediately. It was perfect. But would he be pleased about getting a gift from her? Should she have maybe left it on his desk pretending it was from some secret admirer? Would this do anything to upset their dynamic? It was more than the $15 limit set for the event. Would that bother him? How much would it bother him?

Beside her, Nigel was so anxious it was rolling off him in waves. Who was his gift for? Was it for one of the girls who were constantly fawning over him? Was it generic or a tailored gift? Was he hoping the gift would lead to something? The irritation was back. What was wrong with her?

Bouts of unexplained emotions had been hitting her at odd times lately, always to do with her teaching assistant. Waitresses, stewardesses, customer service reps, secretaries, they all flirted with him constantly, whether he returned their advances or not. Through it all he remained endearingly shy, an attractive blush always creeping up the back of his neck and into his cheeks. The flirtatiousness wasn't new – it was like that from the start – but her reactions were. She just couldn't watch it anymore without grinding her teeth and hustling him off to the next thing, or getting his attention any way she could. Apparently these feelings extended to unknown receivers of Christmas gifts given as part of a game.

"Syd?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin as Nigel touched her arm. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't realized the podium was empty and that people were beginning to wander around with purpose.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He was paler than usual, making the flush that had appeared stand out even more. Maybe he was legitimately ill.

"I'm fine."

She wondered if that was really the case. She'd seen him up against guns and less nervous than he was right then. He scratched the back of his neck. "I… erm… well… This is for you."

That was something she hadn't expected. The flare of jealousy – she might as well name it properly – died down immediately, replaced by a tingling warmth. She took the package from him, wondering what it was that was making him so tense.

"Oh, this is for you." She handed him his gift, pleased at the wide-eyed look he gave her.

They stared at each other for a moment, each holding their respective gifts, unsure of what to do. The clamour around them grew louder as people began shouting out names.

"Want to get out of here?"

"Absolutely."

They retreated to the quiet and familiarity of the Ancient Studies office, relieved to be away from the prying eyes of their colleagues. At the same time, the office was almost too quiet, the buzz of nervous energy almost palpable.

Sydney settled on the edge of Karen's desk, excitement and anticipation sending the hair on her arms to attention. Nigel leaned on his own desk, watching her apprehensively.

"On the count of three?" she suggested. Nigel nodded. "One… two… three." She tore at the edge of the paper to reveal an incredibly soft, emerald green fabric. "Oh, Nigel," she said with a gasp, letting the wrapping paper fall to the floor as she unfolded the softest blanket she'd ever felt. It was positively beautiful. She ran her hands over the material, all ready planning on curling up under it in front of the fire, hot drink in hand. He'd heard enough about how cold she was over the years, she supposed, but she'd have no trouble staying warm at all with this blanket.

Dragging her attention from the blanket she focused on Nigel who was staring at the book, running his fingers over it with reverence. His cheeks were stained red, his lips slightly parted. She was almost giddy with delight that he was obviously happy with the book.

"Syd… Syd this is incredible. Where did you even find this?"

"Hungary. I hid in a shop trying to shake off Maxine's men."

He looked up at her sharply, his eyes narrowing. "You had my name from the beginning?"

"No," she admitted. "But after I found that I knew I needed to give it to you. I may have shaken down a few people to get your name."

Nigel grinned boyishly at her. "Me too. That's why I'm proctoring so much."

She shook her head fondly. "And it worked?"

"Not entirely, no… You?"

"No."

"So how…?" he trailed off, the two of them coming to the same conclusion.

"Claudia," they said in unison.

"What did she get from you?" she asked Nigel.

"Oh, erm…" He hesitated. "She actually wanted to know about Preston."

"Excuse me?"

Nigel shook his head. "I don't know. I don't want to know. She made me talk about him for an hour. An hour! Asking me all sorts of questions – what kinds of food does he like, what does he look for in women, what does he like to do for fun? The questions wouldn't stop."

Sydney hummed sympathetically, fighting the urge to smile at Nigel's agitation over having to talk about his brother.

"And you?"

"Hmm?"

"What did Claudia want from you?"

"Nothing, really." Sydney folded the blanket over her arm. "She wanted me to put her in touch with Naomi. Something about a modelling set up. I don't know, I didn't hear the rest," she said, avoiding Nigel's gaze. He didn't need to know that Claudia's price had been two-fold: she also wanted to know what happened after giving Nigel his gift.

Nigel yawned and Sydney took that as their cue to leave, picking up and tossing the wrapping paper in the garbage on her way to grab her purse and bag from her office. By the time she came back out of her office Nigel was also ready to go, backpack on over his coat and helmet in hand.

"Do you want a ride? It's pretty chilly out there."

"I'll be all right. I want to get my bike back before that snowstorm hits tonight. I've been putting it off but the roads are clear enough right now."

There was a companionable silence as they walked through the abandoned hallways to the parking lot, each lost in their own thoughts. Once outside in the crisp winter air, they stopped and faced each other, neither in much of a hurry to leave after all. Nigel toyed with the clasp of his helmet before rubbing at the back of his neck. She felt the hum of tension herself. It felt wrong, somehow, to leave now, just as things were.

"Nigel?"

"Yeah?"

Instead of answering, she leaned forward and placed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, as close to a full kiss as she dared. "Merry Christmas." She didn't linger to wait for his reaction but hurried to her car, tsking at herself. When had she become such a chicken? When you can't hide behind an excuse, her brain supplied helpfully.

Nigel stared after her, his fingers ghosting over the place where her lips had touched, the spot tingling. "Happy Christmas, Syd."