I don't die when I take a drink, I just wish I was dead.

[And then, after a brief pause--]

More actively dead, anyway.

[Ha, dead jokes. But he's always extremely aware of this whole deflection, and would've been even if it were more subtle, which it wasn't at all; still, he gets the hint that this direct questioning probably isn't going to help, so he backs off just a bit for now.]

But fine, okay, I'll try it your way. Let's give this apocalyptic ingenuity a shot.