It was immediately followed by approximately all of the gulls, who either began cawing and calling en masse in his wake, or it was just Handy's imagination as he groggily drew himself from the murky depths of oblivion. His head pounded for a reason he could not quite understand, for he had made damn sure to remain rigorously sober for the past few weeks since the incident with the changelings. And so it was that he greeted the morning daylight with the disdain ordinarily reserved for sneering receptionists and telemarketers.