Is "Looks like it will take a while. Can we use the opportunity to escape?" idiomatic english?

Question

The context is this dialogue in a fan fiction screenplay (open web / CC-by-nc-sa / XHTML5 / should not require client-side scripting). Quoting the source:

Emma: So, Aharon, where is this evil Hannah terminator anyway?

Aharon: over there - she is busy being an <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AttentionWhore">attention whore</a>.

[ They see Hannah through the window talking, interviewing, and posing for her photos with fans. ]

Arnold: looks like it will take a while. Can we use the opportunity to escape?

Aharon: there is no escape from destiny. But we can speed up the start of the
battle by using a time wrapped game session.

+++: Would that be acceptable?

Arnold: I guess - might as well get it over with now.

Emma: yes… Please <a href="https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/9695/whats-the-origin-of-picards-signature-phrase-make-it-so">make it so</a>.

Aharon: On it.

grammar idioms

Anton · Answer

Enna and Aharon look through a window and see Hannah.
Hannah is busy with various tasks.
When Arnold says idiomatically "Looks likely this will take a while" he is making an elliptical statement that says:
It seems likely to me that Hannah's finishing of her tasks will take some time
Similarly we might say "It looks like rain" when we mean that "It looks likely that it will rain."

while =
a period of time especially when short and marked by the occurrence of an action or a condition : TIME
"stay here for a while"
Merriam Webster

Enna, Aharon and Arnold may therefore have sufficient time to escape before Hannah notices them.

Is "Looks like it will take a while. Can we use the opportunity to escape?" idiomatic english?

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