I wouldn't push for anything I would simply reach out to them to understand their timeline and process that they would use should they want to merge/buyout, etc. Pretty reasonable question to ask and that way you know the whole play from front to back.

I recently met with a merger candidate who was eager and wanted to meet but when I communicated that a possible merger might take 2 years to implement because of licensing, geography, office leases, employment redundancy, etc they were immediately turned off.

In order for a deal to work the deal has to make sense AND the timing has to be there for both parties.

You should feel comfortable asking these questions of the other party or they aren't taking you seriously. Buyers or merger candidates expect due diligence and questions throughout the process. Not asking would be a big red flag to me that the other party didn't know what they were doing or were timid communicators. Both of which would turn me off.