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"I suppose you must think that sounds pretty hypocritical coming from me," said Vino.

Yeah, no shit.

"But Linus, listen. You're not like me. You're, what? Twice my age or so? And yet you don't look any older than the day I first met you." Vino paused for a breathy laugh. "You still have your health. Your youth. Even if I were to become undead like you, I couldn't reverse aging. I'd still be old and tired and full of chronic pain whenever my poor reaper wasn't around. But you? You could go out there and start a brand new family, if you wanted. And show them the world. Teach them all sorts of things. You're wiser than you give yourself credit for, my friend."

"So you're telling me that if you could somehow reclaim your youth, you'd change your mind?" said Linus.

At that, Vino hesitated. He looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it and averted his gaze.

"Yeah, I thought not," said Linus.

"Look, we're not talking about me."

"Yes, we are."

"Linus. I'm just..." It was a rare instance where Vino seemed to struggle for his words. In all their time together, Linus hadn't seen this very often. Vino took the opportunity to sigh heavily before continuing. "I'm just ready to move on. That's all."

"To move on," echoed Linus dryly.

Vino gestured broadly around him. "From this life. Or this world, maybe. I'm ready to see whatever comes next. Truthfully, I'm kind of excited about it."

Linus just stared at him for a moment. Somehow, this wasn't surprising. Thinking back to all their conversations over the years, the topic of what happens after death had come up quite a number of times. "...And what if there's nothing to discover?"

Vino all but rolled his eyes at him. "You would ask that question of a dying man, you callous jerk. Would it kill you have some tact for a change? Honestly."

Linus wasn't really in the mood to lighten things up with insults or banter. He just kept looking at his friend, waiting for an answer to his question.