He thinks about it. Finally, with a smile twisting into irony, "It hurt. Every time. With an overtaking pain, in the moment, entirely conquering, even going into it willingly, even when the pain is glorious. On balance, life hurts more, although it's more spread out." He shrugs. "Still, I'll take life over death, as long as it's my choice. But to be undead again..." Still smiling, but hard, with oppressed resolution and lowered eyes. "Give me a thousand deaths first, and send me home to my Mother."
"Yes, you can," he says simply, and heats a saucepan.