He resists the urge to dismiss the question; turning things back on someone else, it's a good tactic. Daryl's a good listener mostly because he hates to talk. Aaron's casting about for something, though, and he deserves an answer.

"Go off on my own a while," he answers, lifting a shoulder.

And you cry like a bitch, Merle's voice adds, still in the back of his mind after all these years. (The fucked up thing is, it's almost comforting, thinking it.)

"Find somethin' to do." A beat, and he adds-- feeling all too vulnerable, but pushing past it for the sake of offering the same honesty he's demanding-- "Somethin' to protect."