More hinting! I don't WANT to hope and have it be dashed but it's a hard feeling to repress. And I didn't think the manner of Brook's eavesdropping was all that awkward. In fact I actually laughed aloud when the porcupine fell on him. It's an interesting interlude and I'm still trying to figure out where I think you're going with it.

Now that they're finally there and you've thrown us a few morsels of hope, it's going to be really hard to wait for the next chapter.