Laura
Our drone looked tiny when it landed next to a larger aid-drone in the city of New Munich. Rescue workers were handing out blankets, food, and water to people affected by the earthquake.
Some of the Motlanders in line looked at Hans and me with hopeful eyes. That made me wish we had brought something to distribute.
It took us a while to locate the woman who had reported the sight of an Nman. She was one of the lucky ones whose house hadn’t suffered much damage.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Hans asked with a serious tone.
“I saw a man behind my house and at first I didn’t think anything of it.” The small woman was in her sixties and spoke in a soft voice. “There are so many strangers in town these days. Still, I should have recognized his jacket as Jeremy’s right away. I’m afraid my mind has been rattled with the shock of the earthquake. It wasn’t until I got inside and saw Jeremy’s closet open that I got suspicious.”
“Who is Jeremy?”
“My son. He’s traveling for work at the moment, so I knew it wasn’t him that had opened the closet.” She shivered. “It was shocking to realize that someone had been inside our house, but then I remembered seeing Jeremy’s jacket on a man outside and I ran to find the culprit.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, he was speaking to Karen Marie over by the dog park.”
“Is Karen Marie a friend of yours?”
The woman nodded. “We’re all friends here.”
“Did you confront the man?” Hans asked with surprise.
“I didn’t get a chance to. You have to understand that at the time I thought he was desperate because he’d lost his house. If I’d known he was an Nman, I would have reported him right away.” She folded her arms. “He took off when I came close. I only saw him from the side, but he had a large scar on his neck and jawline.”
“Did the man look like this?” Hans showed her the picture we had of Jonathan.
She wrinkled her forehead. “Do you have a picture of him without the beard?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
She studied the picture. “It’s hard to say. I only got a glimpse of him from the side, but it could be him.”
“Was the man you saw shaved?”
“Yes, he was.” She looked speculative. “Do you think he shaved at our house?”
“I can’t tell. Would you mind us looking around to be sure he’s not hiding somewhere?” I asked.
Her eyes softened in a grateful smile. “That would be very kind of you. The thought that a real Nman has been here is scary. If you could make sure he’s gone I would appreciate it.”
“Good idea. Laura,” Hans said with a nod, “you search, while I ask some more questions.”
If I had wanted a chance to prove that I didn’t need a man to hide behind, I’d hit the jackpot with Hans. No Nman would have let me search the house for a potential criminal by myself. Hans on the other hand seemed comfortable with hiding behind me instead of going first.
I was disappointed that Jonathan hadn’t hidden in the house since I wanted to prove myself and catch him.
Our next lead was Karen Marie, who turned out to be a woman in her late twenties with pretty red lips.
“When the man approached me, I thought he was looking for shelter,” she explained when we asked her what happened. “He had a nice smile and I expressed my sympathy for him and all the people who lost their homes.”
“Did anything strike you as unusual with him?” I asked.
“Yes. He complimented my hair and said that I smelled nice.” She tilted her head. “That wasn’t the strange thing, though. It was the way he kept looking at my breasts. At first, I figured I had a spot on my clothes, so I asked him if something was wrong.” Karen Marie placed a hand on her collarbone and leaned back. “I knew something wasn’t right with him from the way he answered me.”
“Why? What did he say?”
She frowned. “He said that I had really nice tits.”
“Did you feel threatened by him?”
She shook her head. “Not at the time, but now that I know he was an Nman, I can’t stop thinking that he could have raped or kidnapped me. Except he had kind eyes.”
“Not all Nmen are violent. Most treasure women,” I said in defense of my people.
Karen Marie looked thoughtful. “The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced he was trying to flirt with me in a clumsy way.”
“Flirt with you?” I had read enough old-time love novels to know what it meant. But I had no experience with flirting myself. With women being won in tournaments in the Northlands, flirting with unmarried males wasn’t done. “What do you mean he flirted with you?” I asked.
“It’s something people used to do in the olden days as a way of showing sexual interest. I read about it in a book once.” Karen Marie was distracted when a group of women called out to her as they passed by.
“Do people flirt here?” I asked Hans, who stood next to me.
“I’m not familiar with the expression, but let me do some research.” Hans used his wristband to call up information while I continued questioning the witness.
“Did you see what direction Jonathan took off in?”
“That way, but it all happened so fast. And then I learned he had stolen the jacket he was wearing. I’m ashamed I didn’t react to his scar or his height. That and his broad shoulders should have alerted me from the beginning.” Her tone was apologetic. “It’s just that I’ve never met an Nman and I didn’t expect one to turn up here in New Munich.”
“It’s fine. We’ll find him and make sure he’s taken back home,” I assured her before we left.
Not knowing what else to do, Hans and I flew over the area hoping to spot Jonathan from the air. “Hey, Hans, would you mind helping? You’re not even looking.”
“He could have gone anywhere,” Hans pointed out. “Besides, it’s hard to tell people’s height from the air, and we’re too high up to see his scar.” He smacked his tongue and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “We’ll have to wait for a new lead on him and when we get it, I was thinking we could use a secret weapon against him.”
“What kind of weapon?”
“I’m talking about the flirting thing.” Hans pointed to the files projected above the wristband. “I’ve been studying the ancient art of flirting and I think I could teach you.”
“Excuse me?”
“You could lure Jonathan in with flirting and when you have him distracted, I could come in and catch him.”
I thought about it. “It’s not a bad idea. We know he likes tits.”
Hans lowered his brows. “We would say breasts here.”
My lips pursed up. “Yeah, well, I’m a Northlander.”
Hans lifted a finger. “Ah, but Jonathan can’t know that. You’ll have to pretend to be a sweet Motlander.”
I sat through twenty minutes of Hans teaching me how to flirt.
“According to my research, it’s all about seduction. There are certain facial expressions that draw men in. Like this one.” Hans hooded his eyes, pursed his lips, and jerked his nose up and down in some comical movement.
“What are you doing? You look like you’re about to sneeze.”
“I learned it from a video. You might want to slide your tongue over your lower lip like this too.” Hans looked ridiculous and so did I when I tried to imitate him.
“How can this possibly be sexy?” I asked when Hans explained about pointing my chin toward my shoulder and batting my eyelids.
“Just give it a chance.”
“He’s going to think I have an eye infection and a sore neck or something. Nobody acts this way.”
“Do you want to help catch the Nmen or not?”
“Yes.”
“Then practice flirting. Look, it’s not that hard.” Hans showed me all the techniques he had learned, and while I practiced the unnatural facial expressions he continued to research. “Here’s an old article that describes how people used to flirt in pre-war times. Listen to this: ‘The best flirting was conducted through body language and not verbal communication. Females would giggle and smile, twirl their ponytails, give the guy a “come-hither” look, and drop their school books.’”
“What’s a come-hither look? And why was it considered sexy to be clumsy?” I asked with confusion.
Hans frowned. “I’m not sure. Let’s see if there’s something else we can use. Oh, here’s one with bullet points.”
“What does it say?” I leaned closer.
“It says men found it attractive when a woman would circle the rim of her glass of wine, twirl a pen, massage her shoulder or neck, continuously cross and uncross her legs, flip her hair, tuck it behind her ears, play with her bangs, or whip strands of her hair in circles.”
“Huh.” I raised my eyebrows. “Men were strange back then.”
“Uh-huh.” Hans kept reading.
Magni would think I was disturbed if I behaved like that. A woman who giggled, and couldn’t sit still but had to play with her glass and pen, while crossing and uncrossing her legs and touching her hair constantly, would be considered strange today.
I scrunched my face. “That flirting stuff doesn’t sound attractive at all.”
“You have to do it right. I’ll find some videos for you to study.”
“And men? Did they flirt too?” I asked.
“Yes, but in a different way.”
“Tell me.”
Hans searched around before he said, “Here’s something about male flirting techniques. Holy Mother Nature, if a modern man did this…” He gave a small chuckle and shook his head. “Listen to this: ‘A man would stand to try to make himself look taller and more erect. He might even put his hands on his hips to appear bigger to become the “alpha male” among his group of friends. He would use his physique to signal he’s the leader of the pack.” Hans laughed.
“What’s funny about that?” I asked. “In the Northlands we like alpha males who show leadership and take charge.”
“But don’t you find it two-dimensional? I mean if that’s all he has to offer, it would be pathetic, right?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by two-dimensional, but I didn’t like him calling our men pathetic. “Our men have raw masculine power and they take what they want. We find that arousing.”
“Arousing?” Hans tasted the words as if unfamiliar to him. “Are you saying you like a man to take you by force?”
“As long as it’s consensual.”
“But it can’t be both.”
“Yes, it can.”
There was a flash of pity in his eyes before Hans focused on the research again. “According to this, men saw themselves as hunters and they would go to bars to get the thrill of the chase. It talks about eye contact being the most important part, and that men would find excuses to touch a woman.”
“Touch her how?” I asked with my eyebrows drawn close.
He shrugged. “It doesn’t say. But listen, ‘A man would make sure his body language was open to show his interest.’”
I spread my arms out wide. “Like this?”
“Maybe. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Don’t I look like a fool sitting with my arms spread out this way?”
“Huh, yeah, but maybe try to bend your arms like you’re about to hug him. It looks friendlier than holding out your arms like you’re about to stop him from passing you.”
“Like this?”
Hans tilted his head to one side. “I don’t know, maybe it wouldn’t look so awkward if you smiled a bit more.”
I flashed my teeth in an exaggerated smile, still holding my arms out as to hug. Flirting was the weirdest thing ever.
“Oh here’s an interesting point,” Hans said with excitement. “The dating ritual often involved the woman playing hard to get by rejecting the man. This served to entice and satisfy his hunting instinct. Even though modern people don’t follow the mating rituals of the past, we still experience a mild form of flirting. When making new friends, we smile more than usual, lean in, and imitate each other’s body language in a synchronized and unconscious way. It’s the ultimate flattery and shows an interest in becoming good friends.”
“Hmm,” I mumbled and leaned back in my seat, crossing my legs.
Hans leaned back in his seat too, giving me a wide smile, and mirrored me when he crossed his legs as well.