"Now that is impressive," Mickey replied, a knowing grin on her face in response to Azra putting men in her place. "Your brother didn't spare any details there, and trust me, I'm dying to see it in action. Just, you know, with a man that isn't Aslan." She laughed gently, feeling like they were making some real headway in getting to know one another. "I think that's probably why your brother said we'd hit it off, because nothing brings me as much joy as being better than men and throwing it in their faces." She hoped Azra knew she didn't do that to Aslan, because as far as Mickey was concerned, there was nothing that man couldn't do.
"I have," she responded quickly, not ready to divulge just how she'd learned the hard way that not communicating with Aslan was the fastest way to upset him. It still haunted her sometimes, the way he'd looked that night she dragged some guy into his bar, and she had promised herself not to do anything like that again. "I can honestly say he's taught me a lot about communication, and it's really been a game changer. I'm lucky he's so patient." The words weren't just genuine, they were something Mickey believed to her very core: Aslan's patience for her was unmatched, and it was her saving grace when it came to their exclusive-but-not-official relationship.
"Your brother and I still make jokes at Tinder guy's expense," she confessed with a chuckle. "I don't even remember his name, I deleted the app the very next morning and haven't touched it since. Whoever he was really did me a solid, though, because I know there's no way he was as great as Aslan." Great at sex, great at conversation, great at everything: it didn't matter who the man was, he could never hold a candle to Aslan. "Actually, that was my way of starting a conversation with Aslan that night we met. I asked him if he saw me at a bar, if he'd stand me up, and he knocked it out of the park with his answer."
"Yep, like the movie," she said with a nod. "Okay, the fact that he's never seen it is single-handedly making my life harder than it needs to be," she joked. "I mean, it's a little different in real life, but the program is real. My brothers and I all went, and sometimes I make references to it so people understand some of the more complicated parts of my job. Thankfully, Aslan doesn't need me to break down ranks, but still, my dad raised us on that movie. I keep telling him we're doing a movie night and I'm going to make him watch it." She hadn't managed to follow through, of course, because the way the two of them got distracted any time they watched a movie or show meant everything took much longer to get through. "Oh, I met Tom Cruise, actually," Mickey said, checking to see if Azra was impressed. "Perks of my dad's job, I guess."
When Azra said Michaela sounded terrible, Mickey laughed so hard that her head fell backward. "She is, actually," she agreed after a moment. "It's just so nice to meet someone who feels the same way, even without meeting her. Everyone else assumes we just don't get along because we're sisters, but it's deeper than that. She's the bane of my existence, and that's on her good days. You guys have a little sister, right?" She'd asked Aslan about his siblings after meeting Azra, wondering how many more time she'd have to go through meeting a sibling. She'd do it, of course, but she wanted to have a game plan. "Thank you, I think it's pretty badass. I actually didn't expect the promotion for a couple more years, but I guess I impressed the right people." She and Aslan had talked a lot about their service over the past couple of months, and she was impressed by what she'd heard from him, but she had a feeling he wasn't being entirely truthful about his military career. "Can I ask you something about Aslan's service?" Mickey looked at Azra, trying to gauge how she'd respond. "He's humble as shit, you know him," she explained, "but he was pretty decorated, wasn't he? He showed me some pictures, and any time I ask, he brushes it off or changes the subject, so I get the feeling he was such a badass but won't own up to it."