Congratulations!

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

It had been a while now since Kahurangi heard the news of her colleague's engagement, but even somewhat belated, a celebration was certainly in order. It was surreal, Kahurangi had known Matt since they were students together, and a small, mean part of Kahurangi was a little bitter that his personal life seemed so far ahead of hers. Long term relationships for Kahurangi seemed never to work out, and as much as she wanted one, she didn't see a child in her immediate future. Time was flying past though, and her heart ached at the thought of all the experiences she was missing. Love, family, it all felt far away.

That wasn't the case for Matt though, and Kahurangi pushed away her own personal worries, focusing on how excited she was for her friend as she knocked on his office door, a celebratory bottle of champagne under her arm. If this wasn't cause for a celebration, she didn't know what was.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

While at school, Matt spent a lot of time in his office. He was always either working on something, which made a mess, or working on cleaning said mess. Today he was going over the plan for the upcoming semester, as he was trying to think of a few changes he wanted to add to the fifth year curriculum especially. Nothing big, but listening to the debate on education had him wondering how he could make his own lessons a little more interactive and interesting for his students. In his haphazard way, he had taken quite a few notes. But if he would ever be able to find them again in the jumble of things on his desk was another story entirely. He was just trying to think of a fun way to let his new upcoming students introduce themselves to him, when there was a knock on the door. A little frazzled, Matt knocked over a pile of books on his way to the door, grimacing slightly. He really hoped it wasn't Professor Alicastell on the other end of the door, as he was sure his boss had something to say about the state of his office. As he opened the door, he was relieved to see it was Kahurangi. Though the bottle of champagne under her arm confused him for a moment. "Is it your birthday?" He then frowned. "Is it my birthday?" No, it wasn't March yet.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi chuckled softly at Matt's confusion, shaking her head. "It's an engagement present, you egg." She smiled, holding the bottle up. "Congratulations! I know I'm a bit late, but there's never a bad time for champagne." Kahurangi joked, trying to use humour and cheer to push down any hints of jealousy in her own mind. It wouldn't do to let any of that slip in front of Matt, this visit was all about celebrating his happy news. "Got time for a drink now?"

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt laughed awkwardly as he realized what the champagne was for. In his defence, he hadn't been aware that word of his engagement traveled so fast. Before becoming a professor, Matt's profession had been a lot more solitary. He was still surprised to discover he had coworkers who were interested in his personal life sometimes, even when they were friends like Kahurangi. "I would argue there are a few bad times for champagne. Like the morning, or after already having a lot of it." He said, mostly arguing for the sake of it. "But now is a good time, so I would like that." He said with a smile. "Come on in, please ignore the mess." His office was never very tidy, but it was worse than usual today.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi laughed cheerfully at Matt's contrary response, making her way into his office as he invited her. "Well, you've got a point, but none of that applies now." She smiled, taking a seat and looking around. The chaos of Matt's office reminded her of her own, but her chaos was a significantly more organised kind. "Oh, don't worry, I'm always in a pile of books." She said happily, grinning at Matt. "So, engagement, eh? Tell me about your fella." She said happily, keen to focus on Matt's happiness and avoid thinking about her own loneliness.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt smiled when Kahurangi said that didn't apply now. He supposed she had a point. He was a little embarrassed of his messy office, but also felt like they were now close enough that she knew he was chaotic already. He figured that as long as he managed to do his job well, it didn't matter too much that his office was in a constant state of messiness. "You are? Read anything interesting lately?" He asked her as he took a seat himself, always interested to hear about books. When she asked him about his engagement, he adjusted his glasses and smiled slightly. "His name is Kyle, he's French. He has a daughter here at school, I'm not sure if she takes ancient runes though. He's very nice and funny, and just a big sweetheart..." He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "You'll meet him at the get together Jon has planned, if you're going."

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi laughed softly at his question, shrugging. "A bunch of Norse mythology, the usual." She smiled, settling into her seat. "The Norse must have had ages to work on their mythology, I feel like I'm always finding new tidbits." She didn't cover mythology much in her coursework, but Kahurangi wanted to have a full understanding of the culture her subject came from, so she could field any questions confidently. Listening to Matt talk about his partner, a warm smile spread across her face. It was so nice to hear someone talking about someone they were so clearly deeply in love with. Her interest peeked a little at his mention of Kyle's daughter. "Oh! What's her name? I'll know if she's signed up." Kahurangi's subject attracted small enough numbers that it was easy to memorise her lists of students well before class actually started. "Oh, lovely! I'm definitely going. I'll look forward to meeting him, then. He sounds great." Truthfully, Kahurangi was a little nervous about the get-together. She didn't know many of her colleagues, other than Matt, Cyndi, and Monty, and the thought of a big social gathering with so few people she knew was a little daunting, but hopefully it would be a good opportunity to get to know the rest of her co-workers better.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt smiled slightly at her answer about reading. “Was it interesting Norse mythology at least?” He asked, as it was something he knew a bit about himself. Mythology was almost always rooted in actual history, or at least said a lot about the period of time it had its origin in. So it was something he had an interest in, at least a little. “They did have quite a while.” He said with a slight nod. “At least, from what I know.” While interesting, it wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. Matt liked talking about Kyle, though it also made him more aware of how much he missed his fiancé. He had a feeling October hadn’t signed up for Ancient Runes, but he wasn’t completely sure. “Her name is October Alcott, she's in fifth year. A prefect.” He said with a small nod, unable to resist adding that last tidbit. He was glad to hear Kahurangi was going to the get together too. “I’m sure you two will get along.” He said. He didn’t think his friend had a lot in common with Kyle, but they were both nice and friendly people. He was excited to introduce them to each other.