"But I'll care." You have no idea how much of a shitfit he'll throw if you die, Zou. It'll be epic. There will be pyres and dirges. Don't inflict that on your fellow crew.

"Why don't you think it'll be painful? I figure dying's probably life's last chance to smack you around, so it'll hurt a lot."

Besides, Rory told him it hurt a thousand times worse than anything in life, and while that did a good job of tamping down Howard's more depressed urges, it also did a good job of giving an already very-paranoid kid even more to stress about.