The Dark Mage

Chapter 14: Tanuki Society

     While the Selenese diplomat was secure and before the Tanuki clan parliament, Natalia and Buck got bored. And because Buck could see the curiosity in Natalia's eyes about the place of her ancestry, he thought he would ask her, "Even though I know we're just here until the diplomat can get support to annihilate the Valkyries, you mind if I show you around Sycamore city and the places that I used to hang around here?"

     Natalia's eyes then widened with wonder that she got to spend some time with her lover and fellow agent and answered, "Of course. I don't know much about this place and would be nice to have someone hold my paw-hand."

     Natalia and Buck then dressed as if they were going out on a date and started taking the elevator to the lobby of the hotel as Frank Sinatra's New York New York played faintly on a nearby radio. And outside the hotel were the well-paved streets of the most recent section of Sycamore city with its high rises and 80 floor buildings with their ornate art deco and art nuveau styles replacing the ugly brutalist and utilitarian structures that came before. After all, who wants to stare at ugly buildings that would fall apart in a few decades with the most depressing gray imaginable?

     Meanwhile, every Tanuki was well-dressed in semi-formal attire including children. In fact, there were so many families that it was rare to see someone walking by themselves and unaware of what was going on around them. And along the children and men, women wore modest dresses down to the ankle of their digitigrade legs and had gloves on while carrying their purses strapped to their wastes. And then almost everyone wore hats with men wearing plain felt hats and women wearing all manner of designs. But because of the way Natalia was dressed without gloves, a hat, or dress down to her ankles, many of the Tanukis thought she was part of some tomboy subculture or a flapper.

     And when Buck and Natalia entered an old jazz parlor that he used to go to when he was a teenager, the Tanuki women looked at Natalia as if she were improper for asking for an alcoholic beverage, even if it was only a pint of beer to go with her food. Natalia then asked Buck, "Why are all the women looking at me like that?"

     Buck then noticed and said quietly, "Tanuki culture is very traditional. Typically, any woman getting a drink that isn't wine or fruity is seen as tomboyish. I know you don't mean anything by it, but some American things that are completely normal seem tomboyish here."

     Natalia was then taken a little back by that and said, "I knew the culture here was very traditional, but I didn't know it went all the way down to having a pint while on our date. Is there anything else I should know about?"

     Buck then stopped to think for a bit before answering. "Yes. You may want to find something that covers up all the way down to your ankles and may not want to wear pants unless you're a farm girl. You also may want to wear something other than boots even though I know good quality work boots can be quite comfy."

     "Sounds like women's fashion here is more about form than function."

     "I think so at least. I seriously don't understand why it's socially unacceptable for women to wear boots or have a pint so long as you're not getting drunk. Because I know damn well many Tanuki women are drinking alcohol in the privacy of their own home and lighting up a cigarette. Seriously, why can't more women just be themselves like you?"

     Natalia then sighed. "Could just be social stigma honestly. It had an effect on me where I used to hide the tomboyish parts of myself until my dad caught me being a tomboy. I panicked when he saw me acting that way playing video games and sports in high school, but he was loving as always and accepting that I'm just not really a girly girl obsessed with fashion and the latest gossip. But I guess growing up with 3 little brothers and no sisters had something to do with my tomboyishness."