I could imagine that.. But my players are nice to mee and doesn't try to derail the story as long as it has some promise of loot somewhere.
When they were under St. Espene they took the time to loot 4 ancient elven sarcophagi (sp?) while the ghoul they were fighting escaped up through a crack into the great cathedral of St. Espene.
If they get a hint of dragons they convo will probably go along the lines of
PC1 "Oooh! Dragon..."
PC2 "How many carts do we own? Can we get Catos dad to provide us with more?"
GM "Probably, but the halflings are not cut out for dragon hunting"
PC1 "No, but they make great bait. I have charm person and hold person readied"
GM "Sigh"