Free Fallout by Ariel Tachna

on that one,” Lyrica said with a shake of her head. “I’ve been around good ol’ boys like him my whole life. They’ll do many things, but yoga isn’t one of them. Not even when they’re gay.”
    “What does being gay have to do with it?” Sambit asked.
    “Nothing,” Lyrica said, “but these Texas boys, they don’t see yoga as a ‘real’ sport so it’s something for the girls to do, not something any self-respecting man would be caught doing.”
    Sambit’s opinion of Derek went up a little more. “Derek did a few asanas with me, although perhaps you shouldn’t mention it. I thought it might help his stress level. I still think it will if he’ll do it regularly.”
    “I’m impressed,” Lyrica said. “Either you’re very persuasive or he likes you.”
    “Your guess is as good as mine,” Sambit said quickly, not wanting to encourage speculation about Derek’s motivations for the little bit of yoga he’d done earlier. The protectiveness surprised him after everything Derek had done to try and alienate Sambit when they first met. Sambit chalked it up to the moments of vulnerability when Derek let down his guard and talked to Fido. “We should probably try to get some sleep. I imagine Tucker will be in here in a couple of hours demanding we fix whatever problems the other team finds since they don’t have Derek’s robot.”
    “I only hope he doesn’t decide to be a hero and make matters worse,” Lyrica said. “Maybe I should have a word with Thomas. He’s the next senior employee present. I don’t know if he’d stand up to Tucker on his own, but maybe he will on my authority if I tell him not to attempt any repairs he can’t do through the servers.”
    “I’m going to set up my cot. Shall I set one up for you as well?”
    “Sure,” Lyrica said, “preferably where I have a good view of Derek’s boys. They’ll make for pleasant dreams in the middle of this nightmare.”
    “As long as you dream about his pinups and not about him,” Sambit said with a laugh. “No reason to set yourself up for heartbreak.”
    “And what will you be dreaming about?” Lyrica asked.
    “I don’t dream.” Sambit wasn’t about to go down that line of questioning.
    “Everyone dreams.”
    Sambit shrugged. “Then I don’t remember them. I’ll get your cot ready.” He walked back in the break room before she could say anything else.
    “I thought I’d set cots for Lyrica and me up over here,” he said to Derek. “That way we’re a little bit out of the way if the others need to come in during their shift, and vice versa when it’s our shift.”
    “Knock yourself out,” Derek said. “Anything that keeps that prick Jeremiah as far away from me as possible.”
    “He never would have known if you were a little more discreet,” Sambit said. “You wouldn’t have to deal with his attitude if he didn’t know.”
    “So he has the right to rub his piety in my face and I’m supposed to just live with it?” Derek snapped. “Fuck that. At least this way he hates me for a reason and knows why I hate him.”
    “His hatred is his own problem,” Sambit said. “You don’t have to fan it.”
    “So you’d choose calm over honesty?” Derek demanded.
    “It’s always worked for me.”
    “Yeah, well, it didn’t work for me. I tried leaving people alone and minding my own business. They came at me until I snapped. I guess that’s the difference between being gay and just being different.”
    “You’re making an awfully big assumption there,” Sambit said, bracing for the explosion to come. Derek wouldn’t care that he was gay, but Derek would undoubtedly have a few things to say about his decision not to flaunt that fact.
    It took a minute for that to sink in past Derek’s temper, but Sambit could tell the moment it did because Derek’s expression hardened. “If you’re yanking my chain, stop it right the fuck now. If you’re telling me you’re gay too, get the hell out of my