Gus nodded, taking the water and drinking some. It was definitely a different taste then the water they got from the wells in the trailer park, but it wasn't bad at all. It tasted so much fresher than the water he was used to, and it was crisp too. He continued to sip on his water until Apollow mentioned he could feel him staring. Gus's ears and neck grew hot and he downed the rest of the glass quickly, trying to cool himself down. "Thank you," he managed to say. "For letting me stay here for a bit and for talking with me."

He watched as Gus downed the water and laughed a little to himself "so you were thirsty huh." He sipped his and began to speak again, fidgeting with the rim of his glass while he did so. " it's really no problem, it's nice to talk to someone once and a while, and to have a friend over for good food." Kili barged in and began her loud chorus of Meows. "Gosh darn Kiki, take a chill pill your alright!" He reached down and picked her up, holding her in his lap as he pet between her eyes. She relaxed and began to purr and kneed his legs. "Sorry about her, she's a noise machine, would you like more water?"

Gus laughed as the cat came barging into the kitchen, demanding attention from her owner. He tried to reset himself, relaxing a bit more as Apollow picked Kiki up from the ground. "It is nice, talking with someone. I don't get the chance to do it much anymore. And no, I don't need any more water, thank you." He set the cup down, the glass thudding quietly on the wooden table. He watched the cat as she kneaded Apollow's legs, looking as happy as can be. "Kiki seems really sweet," Gus smiled.

"She really is, just loud, and easy to spook" Apollow stopped petting for a moment only to get a loud protest. He resumed petting almost as quickly as he stopped. "You must be pretty stuck in a schedule, having to take care of your siblings and everything else. How do you find time for yourself?" He watched as Gus set his glass down, and smiled. He began to scheme of things he could do to make Gus happy on the daily. Apollow enjoyed making people happy whether it was through song or just hanging out with them.

Gus frowned, trying to think about himself for a moment. "The only time I have to myself is in the middle of the night or practices when I don't have to do much teamwork. Thats why I don't really have any activities that I do when I'm home. I hardly have the time for anything, I guess." Gus shrugged his shoulders, running a hand through his dark hair before setting it on the table to tap his fingers. "Do you usually have a lot of time to yourself?"

Apollow felt bad for how Gus lived, he thought about the stress he must be feeling all the time, all the responsibility he shouldn't have being dumped on him. "I do have an outrageous amount of free time, living by myself has its upsides, like the cleaning is easy, because it's never very messy. But it gets really lonely. Not having anyone to talk to, its restricting really." He made eye contact with Gus and marveled at the deep color of his eyes. "I guess Kiki helps with being lonely," he picked her up and let her roam on the table, "but even then it still gets a little quiet and empty I guess" he stopped, realizing he'd talked for a while, his face turned red and he drank more water in attempt to hide it.

"I guess I can see that," Gus responded, holding out his hand for Kiki to smell as she wandered the table. "I couldn't imagine living alone, even if I had a pet. I'm just so used to taking care of my siblings and our mom that I forget how it would be to live independently." He watched Apollow's face, noticing a slight change in the color of his cheeks, before looking back at the cat in front of him. "I would get really lonely all of the time if I lived like you do."

Kiki wandered over and sniffed Gus's hand, before rubbing her face against it. "I could see that, it was a huge change for me when I first moved out." He messed with his hair a bit "it was painfully lonely for the couple of months before I had Kiki," She turned when he heard her name, but quickly went back to rubbing herself on Gus's hand. " I moved to this school and really never made any connections with anyone. I guess a few people reached out and talked to me, but they weren't really the people I like to be around" Apollow watched the interaction between Gus and Kiki and smiled to himself.

Gus listened silently as Kiki rubbed her head on his hand. He then reached out to scratch the top of her head and behind her ears, eyes completely focused on only her. His shoulders relaxed their tense position slightly and he stopped bouncing his leg under the table. Eyes still centered on Kiki as he rubbed her cheek, he smiled brightly. "A lot of the people at our school are just assholes in general. I tried making friends a while ago, and the closest I got was my team, who are terrible people."

His smile grew larger as he saw Gus relax with the cat. "I can see that, but you put up with them because you love hockey. That's dedication right there. It's a good value to have" he laid his chin down on his arms that rested on the table as he watched Kiki and Gus. Outright adorable, he decided it was. He found himself chuckling and blushing while he watched them "she really likes you" Kiki let out a little meow as she flopped down on the table and stretched out.