"...there are nearly too many places it inhabits to list, but the most common sightings have been in--"
"Whoa. Okay. Stop," Ian pleaded.
"What? Is something wrong? Did I miss something?" Leah started to flip through her notes.
"No. No. You didn't miss anything. That's it. There's so much I didn't even know." Ian sighed, shifting in his seat.
"Um...sorry?" Leah returned to the page she had left off on. Everyone looked at each other, not used to such behavior from Ian.
"Tell me something I know."
"This was a really dangerous quest and you should've picked something easier."
"Not you, Alexei. Leah." Alexei rolled his eyes.
"Okay, well..." Leah began thoughtfully.
"What exactly is the point of this exercise?" Sara interrupted. "Is this one of those 'remove all prior assumptions and return to basics' mystery-solving techniques?"
"I wouldn't really call this stuff assumptions," Leah countered, holding up her notebook.
"I don't think it's that, Sara," Alexei replied, then dropped his voice to a stage-whisper. "I think he's just trying to reassure himself that he knows /something/."
"What the hell, Alexei! I haven't seen you being helpful in the past couple of weeks!" Ian all-but shouted, jumping from his seat.
Alexei looked up at his friend, refusing to stoke the fire by standing up. "I'm not the one that decided to chase a goddamn dragon without knowing anything about it!"
"Boys! Calm down," Sara interjected.
"I am calm," Alexei shot back.
"So am I," said Ian, sitting back down heavily. The group sat in silence for a few seconds.
"Well...it breathes fire?" Leah suggested.