As per usual, the tom was focused intently on his work, green stained paws working as he sorted herbs into piles all the while mumbling to himself about some experiment or other into the effects of herbs on mice he'd been testing. Despite his sister walking directly up to him, the small tom still took a long moment to actually realize Venus was talking to him, and Apollo whipped around suddenly at the realization, eyes wide with surprise. He was a workaholic, however much he'd deny it, though it was more due to his extreme passion for what he was doing, rather than a desire to really avoid his family. It seemed like only yesterday Mars had told him he was Commander, well, actually, it might have been yesterday, Apollo was notoriously terrible at keeping up with gossip, clan politics, and the like. Half the time, he didn't even seem to realize there were new tykes born until they were already most of the way into their time as a Cadet, and came to him for one injury or another. "Not any more than usual. What did you need? You're not hurt are you?" He eyed her critically, though he noticed no signs of injury. She looked like she'd gained weight, if anything, but even as oblivious as the black and white tom was, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut about that. He wanted to keep his ears, after all.

( There's like a 50/50 chance that Apollo's even realized Diana had kits... so probably not. xD )

Apollo tilted his head slightly. "I just took a break yesterday, what do you mean?" For being such an intelligent tom, the Guider could be infuriatingly out of touch. His 'break' had been to go for a walk, grab some prey, and take a nap. That was his interpretation of events anyway. The reality was that he'd eaten an entire squirrel, all on his own, and passed out in his nest for a good day or so. And that had been two full days ago now. Two days without food, sleep, and only the occasional pause for a drink of water when he noticed he was particularly thirsty. This tendency to get so lost in his work that days would go by without notice was remarkable, but also probably the reason he never grew beyond the size of a young cadet and was perpetually thin, almost to a worrying degree at times.

Shrugging away her worry, the tom offered a bright smile, the expression easy and bright. "Good, as usual. My latest experiments have been a success, and I'm hoping to create a strain of catmint that's more effective at treating greencough next, and grows better underground. It'll be life saving, if I can manage it! I just need to make sure that I can breed the plants to have both traits." For a few long moments, Apollo rattled on, quickly seeming to lose himself in his little speech about cultivating plants, before eventually catching himself and stopping mid sentence. "Er, that's probably enough of me talking, isn't it? How about you? Anything new I should know about?" He looked a bit sheepish for a moment, then intensely curious as he shifted the conversation onto her.