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To say Tariel resisted entering the Lab would be a lie. The golden Frei flew through the doors into the reception area, and it was Kali who had to keep breaking into a run to keep up. Inside, Tariel peered around, looking for someone new to play with.

"Hello~?" she called out. "Does anyone want to play with Tari?"

Finally able to come to a stop without losing her daughter again, Kali rested her hands on her thighs, bent over and trying not to pant. She hadn't thought she was out of shape - not until being forced to chase her daughter through a mall, a museum, and then keep her in sight on the way to the Lab. Which she had completely lied to Tari about, claiming she was bringing her daughter here so that Tari could play with other Raevans.

"Stop... yelling," Kali huffed. Oh god, her feet were killing her. She loved her heeled boots, had never had a problem with them. Had never spent several hours running in them, either.

Tari's green eyes narrowed. "Why is no one here? If there's no one for Tari to have fun with, then Tari is leaving," she warned. Golden claws tapped against the armour on her forearms, arms crossed under her chest.

Kali hid a wince. Already there were tears in her shirt, edged in drying blood, from scratches earned when she had separated Tari from her new friend Domevlo at the museum. Hence the lies to make Tari come here willingly, before the angelic Raevan did some serious damage to someone.

"Someone's here," Kali forced a smile. "I promise."

"Doctor," Kali glanced up as Kyou entered. Immediately, she felt relief sweep over her. The doctor was in, and surely he'd know how to cure Tari.

She blinked at Kyou's concerned tone. Remembering the cuts, she glanced down at her arms. "Ah, I'm fine," she said, feeling a bit awkward. She wasn't one to normally get injured so easily, but she could hardly fight back against her sick daughter. "Just a bit of trouble convincing Tari to leave a new friend at the museum. But she's here now and ready to play." Kali gave Kyou a meaningful glance as she emphasised the last word.

The Raevan in question floated over at the mentioning of more playing. "Yes. Going home is boring, Tari wants to play some more. Kyou will play, yes? Or call Laz if he is here?"

Behind Tari's back, Kali mouthed 'INFECTED' at the doctor. Hopefully he could play along so that Tari wouldn't run away or turn violent before the cure was administered.

Tari took the bait. She floated along behind Kyou as he led her to the room where they could play. "Tari hasn't heard of 'show and tell'. What kind of game is it?"

"Oh, it's a very fun game," Kali replied immediately. "You'll love it."

Making a suspicious noise, Tari glanced sideways at her mother. "Why is mama coming? Mama doesn't play games - sooooo boring," she complained to Kyou.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Kali felt a bit insulted. She took Tari everywhere Tari wanted to go, let Tari have playdates with other Raevans, kept her clothes and fed and loved... And that wasn't enough? Kali had to somehow be more 'fun', too?

Forcing a smile, Kali said, "Mama will just watch. You and Doctor Kyou have fun, and Lazarus, too, when he arrives."

This seemed to mollify Tari, though she sped up to float closer to Kyou than to Kali.

Kali felt a migraine coming on.

Both Tari and Kali's eyebrows rose as Kyou described the game that would be played. Kali in shock, and Tari in dawning realisation that this was a very adult game. The kind of game everyone else would insist she needed a tummy before she could play. Colour rose in her cheeks. In that moment, she decided Kyou was wonderful even if he wasn't God, because he was the only person treating her like she wasn't a baby.

"Alright," Tari agreed, bobbing up and down in her seat. A gauntleted hand reached out and turned over the top card. Seven of spades. Tari pouted. "Unlucky. But! Tari will do better next time." The angelic frei gave a decidedly devilish smirk, eyeing Kyou in the way she'd normally eye off a tasty looking branch of sakura blossoms.

Kali watched, worry etched across her face. She felt a little strange watching Tari act this way. Wasn't it the parent's job to make the child need therapy, not the other way around?

Tari sighed as she began unbuckling the left gauntlet. A promise was a promise, and surely she'd be luckier next time. It hadn't escaped her notice that Kyou wasn't wearing many layers to begin with, so there was a better chance of him losing before Tari did. When the armor came off, Tari placed at the far left side of the table. It wouldn't be easy for her to grab it in a hurry. Resting her chin on her now-bare hand, she smiled at Kyou. "Kyou's turn!"

Tari jerked and bolted upright when Kyou told her to wait. She listened to the new rule, scowling a little. It was very unfair to change the rules in the middle of the game. She doubted Kyou would have added this in if he'd lost the first round. But still, now the rule was there and if Tari won next time...

"So, if Tari wins next, she gets to draw on Kyou, too?" she confirmed. The smile playing over her lips was anything but angelic.

Watching them both, Kali was glad this was about to be over. She had a horrible vision of a shirtless Doctor Kyou with 'property of Tariel' scrawled across his chest. Possibly also flowers or angel wings.

"Okay." Tari obligingly stuck her arm out across the table to Kyou. "But Tari is winning the next one!"

Tari huffed at the extra 'new rule'. Luckily for the doctor, she was used to seeing games on tv that revolved around someone closing their eyes, so she didn't think this was anything more than Kyou adding more rules in his favour. Letting Kyou take hold of her arm, Tari heaved a melodramatic sigh. Green eyes fluttered closed.

"Ready," Tari chimed in sing-song tones.

The expected pressure of a marker never came. Instead something damp swiped across her wrist. Tari was frowning when the sharp jab came. She yelped, eyes flying open, scrambling backwards as the animal instinct of 'flight' took over. The 'injured' arm pressed to her chest. Realising the damage was already done, Tari's face twisted into a snarl. A leap, and she was in midair, diving across the table with the still-gauntleted hand outstretched. Wicked claws closed on the air in front of Kyou's face. The golden figure was dragged backwards by human arms slung under Tari's armpits, locking up above her shoulders. Tari thrashed like a fish out of water. Slowly, eventually, her struggles weakened. Kali slumped to the floor, Tari flopped in her lap, both females panting.

Kali recovered first. She hadn't just been injected, after all. She gathered the still-panting Tari into her arms and stood. "She's okay, isn't she?" Kali asked the doctor.

Tari's green eyes were glazed over, eventually fluttering closed. Her breathing began to even out, though she was covered in sweat, making it appear as though the fever had hit again. Hopefully all she needed was a night's rest for the cure to work its way through Tari's system.

Kali nodded along as Kyou spoke. She didn't take in much more than his reassurance that Tari would be fine. It had been a long few days - Tari "sick", then better, then running completely wild. It was a good thing Kyou hadn't been hurt; Kali knew her daughter would have been distraught once she woke. It was bad enough they could never go back to that museum - trying to avoid the Lab due to guilt would be impossible.

Lifting Tari, Kali moved her daughter to the bed Kyou had indicated. Part of her wanted to protest and just take Tari home, but after the last 'recovery' that hadn't been, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Thank you," she said. "I think I... need to go wash my face." Sweat also covered Kali, though for different reasons. Maybe after wiping it off, and finding a drink, she'd feel more... human... again. What a strange expression. More normal, perhaps.

She patted Tari and arranged her more comfortably on the bed. The other gauntlet was removed and placed with the first, in case Tari began fidgeting in her sleep. Satisfied she could do no more, Kali left with a backwards glance at the unconscious figure.

Tari slept on through the night. She would awake in the morning, recovered and wracked with guilt over her actions, barely able to squeak out apologies to Doctor Kyou. When she and Kali finally made their way home, Tari would be mentally writing a list of people she needed to make amends to.