Endorphin Rush
Be there be there be there...yay!
It shouldn't have been such a big deal. Syd could outrun this girl with her eyes closed, but it was nice to have someone who was focused on getting better as a running partner. It was nice to having a running partner, given that Noah refused to risk their covers, and Francie and Will weren't runners.
Cordelia was a nice (way to overuse a word, Sydney thought to herself with a sigh) girl who worked for a detective agency downtown. She could talk a mile a minute, which was probably why her mile time was still sort of high. But Syd didn't mind...SD-6 put her through a good workout with the Krav Maga, the target practice, the insane schedule where she could promise to meet Cordelia at 8:30 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and miss Wednesday because she was off in Rio making an exchange with a contact who was very attached to his shipment of enhanced cocaine...
"Hey!" Cordy said, jogging up so that her breasts almost hit her chin, and why Syd was noticing that today made no sense. But they were hard not to notice, particularly when Cordelia was wearing a white sports bra and there was already a trickle of perspiration gleaming on her skin. "I was worried when you didn't show up Wednesday. Everything okay?"
"It's my crazy job with the bank," Sydney said with a sigh. "They sent me on a no-notice trip to Seattle."
Cordelia smiled. "Must be nice," she said. "When I have to take a no-notice trip, it's usually to the barrio to deal with some real demons of clients."
Syd chuckled. "Sounds glamorous," she said.
"Oh, yeah, it's a lark," Cordelia said. "Slime, violence, and the boss barely paying attention because of this blonde piece of...but I'm totally rambling. Three miles sound like a good workout?"
"Yes, totally," Syd agreed, noticing a scar on Cordelia's stomach. Where had she gotten that? Looked like a puncture wound, too. She shook the thought out of her head and shucked her hoodie. "Give me a minute to warm up."
By the time they'd done their last lap around the track, Sydney was feeling nice and warmed up, and Cordelia was clearly aching. Next time, Sydney thought, she needed to go a little less hard on her, but after Rio, there had been so much energy to work off, and she hadn't been thinking because when she thought? It was all about how good Lycra was to Cordelia, and that was all sorts of bizarre. Because Sydney was pretty happy with Noah, except for the part where he was too much of an SD-6 agent and all about the job first. They were always agents first and lovers second.
With Cordelia, she was just Sydney. The woman who worked at a bank and liked to run. It was relaxing, more relaxing than with Francie because for some reason, there seemed to be less deception between Syd and Cordy...
"Hey! Sydney Bristow, where are you?" Cordelia asked, huffing a little. "You seemed to be in outer space."
"Sorry," Sydney said, suddenly blushing. "I was thinking about how I was glad you were here today."
"Well, duh," Cordelia said. "Where else was I gonna be?"
Sydney smiled. "I guess I was worried because I wasn't here on Wednesday and didn't tell you," she confessed, looking down at her shoes. "My job isn't really great at giving me time to warn my friends that I'm going to miss our date...running date, I mean...you know what I mean."
"It's okay," Cordelia said, touching Sydney's shoulder. "I know all about crazy jobs with the bad hours. My boss can be a real monster, and I swear, if I weren't around to babysit, it would be the end of the world."
There was something comforting about knowing that someone else felt the same way as Sydney, even if Cordelia wasn't saving the world the same way that Syd way. "You want to get breakfast?" Sydney heard herself ask. "It's nice to know that someone else gets it. My friends are great, but they think my job's not worth it."
"Well, it's probably not, but you gotta do it anyway, right?" Cordy asked with a lopsided grin. "Come on, I know this place two streets over. They make great omelets."
"I could use the protein," Sydney admitted. "On the business trips, there's not always time to eat."
Cordelia shook her head. "You should always eat," she said, grabbing Sydney's jacket. "Of course, that's my empty stomach talking, but if I don't eat, I just get so dizzy and I'm already headache-prone. So yeah. I believe in omelets."
It wasn't much longer until Sydney also believed in them, largely because Javier made the best ones she'd ever tasted, and with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice tossed in, Sydney was enjoying her morning far too much. Didn't hurt that she had a stone hottie sitting across from her, flirting like crazy in her Cordelia Chase way.
"So, okay," Cordelia was saying, and Sydney was fascinated how she could be just off a run and look so good, "Here's a question. Do you get endorphin rushes from running? Because I so don't. I'm starting to think they're a total hoax fed to us by the fitness industry so we don't stop trying exercise."
"No way!" Sydney disagreed. "Endorphins are real. You just have to find the intensity you need to get the high. Maybe we should try five miles next time."
"You can try five miles," Cordelia replied, groaning. "I just gave myself a kink in my calf from all that running. And besides, if they're real, what do they feel like?"
"Good," Syd replied helplessly. "It clears your head and you're in the moment. Kind of like you're floating and tingling...wow, I sound so dumb, don't I?"
Cordelia pursed her lips. "No," she said. "Not really. I just want to know why some people get the rush and others only get sweaty and crampy."
"That, I don't know," Sydney said. "I could ask."
Cordelia shrugged. "No, that's okay," she said. "But I have another question."
"Ask away," Sydney said.
"Does it feel a little like this?" Cordelia asked, leaning across the table and the omelets and kissing Sydney, her dark hair falling over Sydney's cheek, tongue tickling at Syd's gums.
"Close," Sydney said when they pulled away. "There's more heavy breathing involved, though."
"Heavy breathing, huh?" Cordelia asked, grinning. "I like the sound of that. Do you have to be at work soon?"
"Um, actually? I have the day off," Sydney replied. Wilson had told her she had the whole weekend off, which would probably turn out not to be true, but after Rio, she deserved a breather.
"Great," Cordelia said. "My place is in Silverlake, and I way need to shower. So...come with."
"Come with?" Sydney asked, a shiver running up her spine. Some spy she was...she could go around the world, fight bad guys, save the day, and when an attractive woman propositioned her, she was gawky and fifteen all over again. "Really?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," Cordy replied, eyes flashing. "Come with. I've got a killer apartment, and I love to show off. We'll have a good time."
"Definitely," Sydney said, finding her tongue. "I'm excited. I haven't had a good day off in a long time."
Cordelia tossed her head and bit her lip mischievously. "Well, you're going to have to prove to me endorphins exist," she said. "Even if it takes all day. But I trust you, Sydney. I think you can do it."
And Sydney was blushing. Wow, Cordelia was straightforward, but it wasn't as though Sydney hadn't had the same thought. She looked away quickly, to get her thoughts together, and then squeezed Cordelia's hand.
"I know I can," she said, amazed at how rough and almost seductive her voice sounded. Spy training in action! "Why don't you get your car? I'll get the check and then we can work on making exercise fun for you."
"Sounds like a plan," Cordelia said, getting up and hurrying out of the restaurant. Sydney grinned.
This was going to be one hell of a long workout today.