Blanc stirred, dimly sensing that it was morning. She turned on her side and reached for a blanket that wasn't there. Grumbling, she settled for hugging the nearest soft thing to her chest and huddling deeper into herself.

When she finally found the motivation to wake up, she pulled her legs in and sat with them parallel over each other. The soft thing she had hugged earlier turned out to be her hat, which she usually took off before she slept. The CPU took a few minutes to readjust to the natural light of her surroundings.

She hadn't woken up in her room, that much was clear. The rooms of Lowee's Basilicom were soothing and easy on the eyes, but right now Blanc could count at least five shades of purple. The color scheme alone was enough to tell her where she was: Planeptune.

"Hm..." Still not fully awake, she shifted into a crosslegged position and made herself comfortable. She could remember staying past the end of the party yesterday. The other two goddesses, Noire and Vert, had departed some time after midnight. Blanc had offered to stay and help with the clean up, and then... she must have crashed with Neptune. Maybe even literally, considering that she couldn't remember lying down. Considering how she typically stayed up so late that it wasn't uncommon for her to go to bed in the middle of the day, the chances that she had simply nodded off in Planeptune were quite high. Recently, her grand twelve-part story had been absorbing so much of her time that her sleep schedule had been skewed by four or five hours.

Eventually, Blanc was feeling up to the task of sliding closer to the edge of the bed. She put her legs down, but rather than stand up, she stretched her arms straight up and accidentally touched the upper bunk bed where Neptune's sister usually slept. Speaking of Nepgear, she must have wondered why Blanc was staying overnight in Planeptune. If that was the case, it was likely that she had persuaded her older sister to share top bunk with her while the bottom bunk went to Blanc.

As Blanc arced her back and rolled her neck to iron out every kink in her body, she looked toward the open window. Rain or shine, the window in Neptune's room always seemed to be open. Thankfully, it was directed away from the bed, so the framed sunlight fell on the floor in front—coincidentally, right on top of an unconscious girl with messy purple hair.

"Neptune?" Blanc gaped at the girl sleeping on the floor in her sleeveless top and shorts. Somehow, she had ended up on the bed while the owner of said bed ended up on the floor. "Why..."

Asleep, Neptune stirred and rolled around on her sleeping mat. Her eyes were shut tightly, like she had heard the wake-up call but had no intention of heeding it.

"No," she murmured like a child, curling her legs to her chest. "It's early, leave me alonely..."

The goddess must have tucked her friend into the bed and selflessly taken the floor. An appreciative smile made its way to Blanc's face. Ignoring her friend's sleep-fuddled nonsense, Blanc tried to piece together the events of last night: nothing occurred to her, even after pondering it for several minutes.

Absentminded as usual, Blanc wondered why the CPU of Planeptune had chosen to sleep on the floor in her own house. Nepgear would have no objection to bedding with her big sister, and one of them could have even slipped in with Blanc—though they would have woken up with a splitting headache if they dared try such a thing.

Footsteps outside in the corridor warned Blanc that someone was approaching. There was a knock at the door, so light that it may not have been real, but there was no chance to hide as the door swung open.

"Neptune," a familiar, sweet voice sang. "It's time to wake up. Don't tell Histoire about this, but I brought you something real special for breakfast! Only because I woke up at Uni's house for some reason, but nobody needs to know that..."

Apparently, that last line hadn't been intended for anybody's ears. Oh well.

The goddess' little sister, Nepgear, came in holding a plate of sweets. Her doting smile, meant only for a specific older sister, faded into a look of confusion to see someone else sitting in her sister's bed.

"Um. Am I in the right house?" she laughed nervously, scrutinizing Blanc and the rest of the room. "Oh, Neptune. There you are."

After noticing her sister passed out on the ground, Nepgear walked over and set the plate down next to the mat. "Goodness, why are you on the floor? Blanc, why did you push her off the bed?"

"What? No, I didn't!" the CPU denied. "I wouldn't do that... Wait, I didn't even sleep with her!"

The Candidate paused and looked between the two. "But... You're in her bed," she pointed out. Her sense of logic was so straightforward that it made arguing with her difficult.

"I-I don't remember what happened last night!" Blanc protested. Only after did she question her choice of words. Nepgear looked critically at her before giving her full attention to Neptune, who was starting to wake up.

"Neptune, breakfast," the lilac-haired girl said as if cajoling a pet. "Look, cake and stuff! Me and Uni made it together."

With one sister ignoring her and the other only just waking up, Blanc pulled her legs up onto the bed and scooted back awkwardly. She rubbed her arms and found that they were bare. Her fur-lined coat was gone, and all she had on was the undershirt she always wore underneath. Most of her outfit was draped over a chair on the other side of the room.

"I'm cold," she muttered as she hugged her hat.

"Don't freeze," Nepgear said. She smiled like she had just told a joke, but her eyes were unreadable.

There was some rustling, and Neptune popped her head up over the side of the bed. It was as if she had woken up at Blanc's complaint. She was squinting like she was still trying to wake up, but her face lit up with a lopsided grin when she saw Blanc sitting against the wall and hugging herself.

"You're cold?" she said lazily. "C'mere then, Blanc... Gimme a g'morning hug!"

She was showing Blanc the dopey, distrait smile that she had made her trademark. The half-asleep goddess' open arms looked especially inviting... and her sister was staring intensely.

Oh, whatever. Blanc had nothing to lose. This was an offer she could not, would not, should not refuse. Trying and failing to hide a smile, the CPU crawled over to the edge of the bed and let Neptune embrace her. She gladly returned the hug over her friend's shoulders.

As if the comforting pair of arms wrapped her waist wasn't enough, the combination of surprise and jealousy on Nepgear's face spelled out victory.

Happy holidays. Thanks for reading!