Work Text:
Study sessions were bearable when they were with Emmett. That's what Elle thought about revision. She was such an optimist, constantly tearing apart the room in search for the positive of a situation, but in this case, the positive was sat at her desk as she paced across the room.
"Define 'malum prohibitum'." Emmett told her. Elle paused for a moment, but then quickly remembered the answer.
"Malum prohibitum is an act prohibited by law... Like jaywalking, or chewing gum in Singapore!"
Emmett's smile grew immediately at her answer, admiring how much she had improved. His legs kicked from beneath the chair, like how a dog wags its tail in excitement. It was a humilating habit of his, where he'd kick his legs, or bounce, or twitch, at the slightest bit of joy.
"Therefore 'malum in se'?..." He continued.
".... Is an action that is evil in itself! Assault, murder, white shoes after labour day..." Elle joked with a cheeky grin, feeling extremely proud for memorising these phrases. Her head turned back to face the teaching assistant, and she stopped moving rapidly in lines. She tilted her head at the sight of his legs kicking, and she hesitated, but after a moment, decided to tease him about it. "That's cute." She commented.
"What's cute?" Emmett inquired, his head shooting up at her as his legs kicked ferally from beneath the desk. He didn't seem to realise what he was doing, until he noticed Elle's eyes trailing down. He immediately gathered what she'd been speaking about, and he stopped, as if he'd just hit a pause button on his legs. He gave an awkward laugh, trying to suppress the obvious embarrassment, before trying to clear himself. "Nervous habit. Or, maybe excited habit. I don't know."
"That's fun! When did that start?" She pressed, absolutely relishing in this adorable moment. Emmett seemed to be debating on what to say for a moment, but the words did eventually escape.
"Uh. It's been a thing for a while, but it started happening more whenever Callahan complimented me. You know how good it feels when you go from being kicked out of his class to solving a scenario for the first time."
Elle laughed audibly at his explanation, and she nodded. Of course she knew the feeling, it was fresh in her head from the first ever case she won in Callahan's class last week. At that moment, she had almost screamed 'omigod!' Right then and there, but she held it back until after class when she was on call with the Sorority Girls. It was such a pleasant thing to finally understand how this beautiful boy's brain worked. He liked praise. How couldn't he? He clearly thrived off of it, based on how much he'd blush when she complimented him, or how he'd subtly smile when Callahan thanked him for holding papers in class. It was cute. He was cute.
No, Elle, don't think like that! Remember that chip on your shoulder. Be smarter and bolder, reclaim your pride.