Light muttering filled the air, being overpowered by the sound of the screwdriver coming to life. The sun crept in through the window, flooding the kitchen with the afternoon warmth of the natural sunlight. The Spongebob Squarepants movie played in the background from the living room, the dolphin loudly announcing the current scene. However, that was lost from Papyrus' mind, instead turned towards Toriel.

"All day?" She asked, the goat woman glancing at him with large brown eyes.

"All day," Papyrus confirmed, concerned eye sockets focusing on his niece.

Last night had been the attack, having resulted in a broken window and a messed up kitchen. Those were the least of Papyrus' worries, having instead been focused on the safety of the children.

They were fine, all of them. They were well trained, and rather strong, even matching and exceeding Papyrus'. The only reason Cole ended up in a harmful position was because he slipped on some hay, but it only took that single second of slipping to almost kill him.

That was the problem with fighting. It only took one slip up, and it could result in harm. Undyne had always made that clear for Papyrus, that fighting wasn't a game. One moment of not paying attention, or one single miss could end everything. All it took was one good hit to a person, and they were down. No amount of training or power could save someone if they weren't careful.

Cole was still a teenager, even if he had been raised killing, it was understandable to make that mistake. Papyrus himself had almost slipped on the hay, but he had managed to catch himself. Even though Cole had been likely trained to fight, the two people they fought weren't normal. They didn't die by deadly hits, they lasted for a longer time. With the group it was easier, but even then Papyrus couldn't blame Cole for it. Cole was more excited to fight than the others, judging by how eager he was to land some good hits on the enemies, just as Jeff was. But Jeff was older, he had more experience, so he knew to back away and take a look before going for another attack. Cole didn't.

It was obvious that the tone of the house had shifted after what Papyrus did. As if the barrier separating the others and Papyrus was just... gone. That morning had been different. Ben didn't look at Papyrus like he hated him, Sally didn't even give him one glare. Cole even came up that morning with a large bundle of stolen items, giving them back to Papyrus. The boy tried to return his scarf, but Papyrus wouldn't let him. He told Cole to consider it as a gift.

Then, there was Silky. Something was wrong with her.

She wasn't composed.

The entire morning had been spent by her trying to fix the window. And she succeeded, many times. Silky would install the new window, mutter to herself, then dismantle it and retry again. It was a constant cycle of installing, muttering, then uninstalling. No breaks, no food, only annoyed muttering and work. Papyrus tried to talk to her, but she only continued muttering to herself as she tried again and again on the window.

Undyne and Alphys had been over as quickly as they could to make sure everyone was alright when Papyrus told them about the attack. The children were all tired and a bit shaken from their brother almost dying, but other than that, they had been fine. Silky, on the other hand, didn't seem fine.

"Do you think it was because of the attack last night?" Toriel asked.

"I think so, yeah," Papyrus said.

It wasn't as if her behavior didn't go unnoticed by her siblings. Addy and Sally, who were both in the living room, kept glancing over towards her. Cole had tried to talk to her earlier, to tell her that he was fine, but that didn't work either. Leonie remained on the computer.

"I can try to talk to her, I actually think I know what this is," Toriel said, putting down her bag onto a counter.

Papyrus had tried talking to her, but he wasn't sure how to handle this. Silky had always been rather bland, except when it came to things being even, and during those times Silky remained calm and contained. It was weird seeing Silky so... out of it.

"Silky dear, how are you?" Toriel asked.

At first, there was no response. Silky continued with installing the window, muttering not ceasing in the slightest.

"Silky-"

"No, no!" Silky suddenly snapped, making both Toriel and Papyrus jolt. "It's not- it's- ugh!"

The tall girl pulled the window out from the frame and tossed it onto the counter, letting it fall off with a loud clatter onto the floor. The glass was protected by the frame, thankfully, so there was only the clatter of the wood against the kitchen floor. She then sank down against the counter to the floor, long and thin fingers digging and tugging into her white, tangled hair.

"It's so uneven! It's so ugly! I can't make it even, no matter what I do!" She yelled, skin seeming to stretch further over her face.

Toriel watched for a moment, soft and caring eyes looking down at the teenager. After a few moments of thought, she slowly approached the girl and crouched down next to her.

"Is the window troubling you?" Toriel asked softly.

"I don't- ugh, it's so ugly! The window isn't even, it'll never be even! I can't control it, I can't control myself, I fu- agh!"

Silky dug her fingertips into her skin, a line of blood dripping down her face. Papyrus took a step forward, planning on intervening, but Toriel held out a hand for him to stop.

"Silky." The woman turned back from Papyrus to her. "This isn't actually about the window, is it?"

The wind softly pulsed in through the open space where the window should have been. The faint sounds of the forest could be heard.

"I was supposed to have control over the situation, I was supposed to step in if anything happened! It's always been that way, I've always had a grasp on the situation! That's what Silky's for, Silky's for control and order!"

From the background, Papyrus could hear Cole say, "Oh d*mn, she's going into third again."

Leonie mumbled afterwards, "Yeah, she's really losing it again. Like the hoodie strings."

"But instead, Silky can't do that. She can't-I-she-aah!" Silky groaned, shoving her hands down onto her face to cover it.

"Silky dear, listen to me," Toriel said, "It's okay to not have control over a situation. That's the problem, isn't it? You can't control what happens, and you can't predict what's going to happen, and I'm guessing that's why you are upset."

"Silky is supposed to understand everyone and everything, that's what Silky and Father are for. Order and class, that's the point. But Silky couldn't predict that the demon proxy had hay, she couldn't fu- freaking protect her brother when he needed it! During her own experiment. Silky isn't for that, Silky is supposed to protect family! Silky didn't have control, she-"

Toriel rested a hand on Silky's shoulder, causing Silky to look up and part her hands from her face from the sudden physical contact. From where he was, Papyrus could see her skin on her face pulling and shifting over her body. It was a bit unsettling.

"I..." Toriel paused, likely having noticed the skin too. "I understand how you feel. Knowing someone you cared about could have gotten hurt from your own ignorance and lack of control over the situation. You weren't able to protect Cole, and that's okay."

"No, it's not!" Silky objected, "Silky is strong, Silky has powers and can fight and protect family! Silky is able to protect brothers and sisters! But she couldn't, and she can't do anything now! Silky is utterly useless!"

"Silky helped find all of her siblings, didn't she?" Toriel asked.

"Silky didn't find all of them, only some."

Toriel smiled softly at her. "But that doesn't mean that you're done. You found almost everyone here by yourself, just by understanding your family and going to where you know they would be. You've been helpful around the house, helping all of us when it comes to your family. You explain things, and help connect the line between us and you guys whenever we don't understand something. You've been there for your siblings this entire time, and you've protected them when you could."

"But Silky could have protected her brother when the demons attacked, she could have helped kill them. Instead, Silky stayed back and watched just because she wanted to test if her Uncle would help or not. Silky never gave him full information, Silky never trusted him when she should have."

Papyrus paused, processing her words. What did she mean?

Toriel seemed to have the same thoughts. "Full information?"

"Silky only told Papyrus enough, she didn't tell him everything because she didn't trust him," Silky explained, "There's things he doesn't know. Silky never fully trusted him, she doesn't trust people much. So Silky did an experiment to see if he would help us or not, she planned to kill his friend if he didn't help fight. So Silky didn't enter fight, she instead just watched, and hurt her brother in the process. Silky didn't predict the hay would be slippery."

"It wasn't," Leonie mumbled from the background, "Cole's just an idiot."

"Am not!" Cole hissed back, "And shut it, Silky's busy being emotional for the first time!"

"I... I am sorry," Silky said, "I usually have control over situations." She pulled back her hands and look at them. "I always have. I've always been able to tell what people would usually do, but ever since the demon proxies have come, it feels like I've lost that sense of control and power. Like I can't save my Dad, and I can't save my siblings and protect my life. I guess Cole almost getting hurt because of my experiment really set me off."

"So you were experimenting with Papyrus?" Toriel asked.

"Like I said, I don't like trusting people I don't know," Silky said, "I trusted him enough to stay at his house, but I didn't trust him in battle. When lives are on the line, people tend to act differently. I was testing out Papyrus to see if he would be willing to protect my siblings."

"I've already said I would, no matter what," Papyrus said.

Silky snapped her head up to look at him. "Words are different than actions. They always are. Anyone can say anything, but acting on it is different. Someone can say they'll fight then run away at the first sign of danger. People are unreliable, it's always been just our family."

"I... I am your family though," Papyrus said, a hand pressed against his chest.

"Through DNA, sure, but as Leonie stated before, we don't know you. I didn't know if you would fight by us or not. I didn't plan for Cole to slip, I didn't think I would even be needed in the fight because I was too busy watching you. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault, and Cole isn't hurt," Toriel said, "It's no one's fault. You did what you thought would protect your family, by being careful and trying to protect them in your own way. Everyone has their own ways to protect their families, and you did your way. And your way didn't exactly fail, as Cole never got hurt. Because he had Papyrus watching out for him. You know why?"

Silky shook her head. "I don't."

"It's because Papyrus was protecting his family, just as you were." Toriel said.