With Landel laying out his implication so plainly, it almost sounded cowardly... not that Izaya minded. He would take being a living coward to a dead hero any day—if 'hero' could even ever be applied to someone with his kinds of hobbies—as long as it meant he was able to continue to observe humans.

"I'm glad we understand each other," Izaya acceded. It wasn't meant as his full agreement—not yet—but it was an indication, at least, that he was leaning towards it. Heavily. "With a job like this, I'm sure payment will be held until the delivery of results... so what kind of timeframe did you have in mind? A day? Two or three? A week?"

How long he had to work with would be the final, decisive aspect in accepting the job. It was always easier to cultivate rumors over a longer period of time, but with the illness... Too long, and the ever-resourceful patients might figure out a cure—and the opportunity would be lost. "I'd imagine it's a race against the clock, hmm?"