With a huff, Tasela picked up his rabbit and left. Partially because he didn't want to embarrass himself further in front of his friends, but more so because he'd decided to visit his grandparents. His grandmother was a crow; crows lived in close proximity to humans, so she probably could give him more useful information about humans than the other uncles and aunties in the tribe.

His grandparents’ den wasn't too far away from the clearing of the tribe, so he arrived in no time. It was a den, but unlike a normal wolf den, it was decorated to the brim with colorful flowers and other shiny things they'd collected over the years.

The elderly couple were having a peaceful chat when he entered. His grandfather was laying down with his paws tucked underneath his chest, while his grandmother was nested on his flank, rising and falling as he breathed. It was an amusing sight.

Despite his grandfather being a small werewolf, the size difference between them was still quite drastic. The two turned to face him as soon as they heard his footsteps.

"Tasela! So good to see you this morning!” His grandmother cawed.

“I came to bring you breakfast.” Tasela smiled, gently placing the bunny in his mouth in front of the elderly couple.

"Have you eaten yet? Why don't you share some with us?” His grandfather suggested.

"Oh no no, it's ok, I already ate a lot earlier.” Tasela insisted. It was hard to go against the universal grandparent instinct of wanting to feed their grandchildren.

"How's Nokomis doing? Haven't seen her in a while.” Grandma asked.

“She's the same as always. I'll tell her to come visit you when I go back.”

“Yes, yes. I was just starting to miss her cute little face.” 

“How are things with you and the human, my boy?” His grandfather chimed in.

"I….” Tasela was hesitant to say the truth, in part because he was embarrassed, in part because of fear for the ocean of questions he was about to get once he told them the news.

He took a deep breath. Get it together. I'm here for their help. How are you going to succeed if you're this easily scared, Tasela? 

"I decided to pursue her.” Both of their faces lit up at the news. Before they could ask their never ending questions, he quickly continued. "I wanted to ask for some advice, if that's ok.”

"Ask away, boy.” His grandfather cheered, while his grandmother stayed silent, beak open and eyes gleaming with anticipation for gossip.

“Um, I guess my first question is how you two came together?” 

His grandfather turned to the crow, knowing full well how excited his partner was to tell the story.

"Oh, I remember it like it was just yesterday! One day I saw a beautiful golden wolf, and I told myself that I must have this treasure. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end I successfully made him mine.” She cawed. Her partner chuckled, the tip of his tail wagging lightly.

"Grandma, isn't that a little too superficial?”

"Can't help it, child, I like shiny things.” She cawed, turning to look at her partner with adoration, who in turn looked away shyly.

Tasela looked at his grandfather. Despite his age, it was clear that he was quite a beauty in his youth. With golden fur and fiery amber eyes, he really did look like a shiny treasure.

“Such a shame that neither your father nor you kids inherited the beautiful golden fur.” She cawed sadly. Her partner chuckled lightly.

”Grandma….” Tasela felt kind of embarrassed.

“Children these days, so squeamish.” His grandmother chuckled, fluttering her wings up to land on Tasela’s muzzle. Her sudden action caught him by surprise.

“You look impatient. Do you have something else to ask?” She asked, her eyes staring so intently into his that he felt they were piercing his soul.

“I guess, um, what did you do to convince grandpa?” Tasela asked, tense.

“Are you asking for advice on what to do to win that human over?” Her intense stare continued. The question’s directness had him by surprise.

“Uh……Y-yeah….” Tasela looked away. If he didn’t have fur, he’d be sweating profusely.

The crow let out a series of loud, grating caws. It was her way of laughing, just unfortunately they weren’t too pleasant to the ear.

“Oh, you siblings are adorable! I still remember when Nokomis would come to me with the same problems in the past too.” She said after recovering from her bout of laughter. Tasela’s tail wagged in embarrassment.

Suddenly, his grandmother flew towards a wall behind them, picking a purple flower that had been put there for decoration with her beak. She flew back to land on Tasela’s forehead, placed the flower in the fur beside his ear, then flew back down to nest herself on her partner’s flank.

“Can’t say I know much about humans. From what I observed though, I think that they like shiny and colorful things. The females seemed to really like flowers though.”

“Do you think she’ll like it if I give her flowers?”

“Give it a try, boy. You never know.” She cawed

Seeing that their grandson didn’t look convinced, the golden wolf joined in.

“It’s a shame that Elder Makawee is away on her travels at the moment, she’s the best person to help you.” He started. Tasela sighed in agreement.

“I don’t remember too much, but I recall that her mate used to regularly give her flowers because he said it was customary in the Navajo tribe for males to gift females flowers.” He recounted in a soft tone. Tasela listened intently with pricked ears. His eyes glistened.

“Don’t work yourself up too much over it though, child. Keep her company, give her your heartfelt gifts, and she’ll start warming up to you.” He smiled lovingly. The crow nodded in agreement. Tasela smiled in gratitude in return, his tail excitedly wagging from side to side.

Tasela’s heart raced. He was grateful to have come to his grandparents for help. Their advice was more than they had asked for, and now, he had a clear idea on what he needed to do.