Summary: Jamie's day was going pretty well, until he found out he's engaged…

Prince Jamie grinned, getting onto his carriage alongside his friend, Lord Leopold. He turned around, waving at the chefs of the Neon Kingdom. He held a fork in the air.

"Come again!" the chefs called. "We'll be even better next time!"

Jamie grinned, pointing the fork at them. "I'll be looking forward to it!"

He was so glad he got the freedom to go out and visit different kingdoms and try their cuisine. Not only did he get to try all different kinds of food, he got to see so many different places and meet many interesting folks. Even if his critiques did cause a few tears here and there, he was glad to go around helping so many aspiring chefs improve their food.

"Wow," Leopold eyed the chefs. "They seem even more motivated to cook than before…"

"That's what it's all about!" Jamie grinned.

Leopold looked away, thoughtfully.

"What's up?" Jamie asked him.

"You're not… jealous of your sisters?" Leopold asked.

"What do you mean?" Jamie tilted his head.

"I mean…" Leopold made a face. "They're getting married; they're engaged to some of the most well-known princes out there. They get to go on dates, share wistful gazes, prepare for the future of your kingdoms…" He gazed back at Jamie. "You're not jealous of all that?"

Jamie shook his head. "Not really. I'm happy for my sisters, but… getting married myself?" He grimaced. "No way. I don't want to get forced into something like that. I just want to keep on going around different kingdoms, tasting food."

Leopold shrugged. "Well, it is your life."

Before long, Jamie arrived back at the Pastel Kingdom. Lorena and Maria were in the hall, giggling to each other.

"He's just so handsome," Maria gushed.

"I know, right?" Lorena agreed. "We're so lucky to get such hotties!"

Jamie smiled, watching them go on their way. He had certainly been mixed on the Plaid Princes at first, but if they made his sisters happy… that was all he cared about.

Speaking of his sisters, he began making his way over to Gwendolyn's room, hands in his pockets. She said she had a new dish she wanted to show him, and-

"James!"

Jamie spun around. His father Jack was standing before him, a grin stretched across his face.

"Dad!" Jamie smiled up at his father. "What's up?"

"Guess what?" Jack asked. "I've finally found someone!"

"... found someone?" Jamie tilted his head.

"Someone for your engagement!" Jack replied. "I've been searching for a while, but I finally found the right person!" He grinned. "Congratulations, son! You'll be getting married!"

Jamie blinked. And then he passed out.

Mmm… waffles…

Jamie sat up, a waffle covering his face. He was lying on a bed in the infirmary.

"Jamie!"

His sisters raced over, standing around him.

"Are you okay?!" Maria asked.

"Yeah, you're all pale and sweaty!" Lorena added.

Jamie nodded, biting into the waffle. "Yeah. I had a terrible dream, though." He rubbed his eyes. "I dreamt that I'd been enga-"

"Ah, James, you're awake!" Jack came in, grinning at his son. "That's good news, since we'll be leaving to meet your fiancée in about an hour!"

"FIANCÉE?!" All three sisters shouted.

Jamie passed out again. He was woken up shortly by Gwendolyn who placed a waffle on his face.

"You have a fiancée?!" Maria asked, racing over to her brother.

"Who is it?" Lorena jumped in.

Jamie bit into his waffle in order not to pass out again.

"… Jamie?" Gwendolyn tilted her head with concern.

"Now now, girls," Jack waved his hands. "Jamie's fiancée is a lovely lady, I assure you. And don't worry, her kingdom is an ally of both us and the Plaid Kingdom! Things will sail smoothly."

"But who is she, exactly?!" Lorena repeated.

"The lovely young Princess Eugenia of the Denim Kingdom," Jack answered, turning to Jamie. "You'd better hurry and get ready, son! We don't want to keep her waiting."

The Denim Kingdom? Jamie thought. I've been there before… but I didn't realise they had a daughter…

"Wow…" Gwendolyn smiled at her brother. "That's great news, Jamie…! I'm really happy for you."

"Yeah!" Maria agreed. "Your fiancée better be nice, though…" She scowled. "Or ELSE!"

Lorena agreed, putting her fist in her palm. Jack chuckled, helping Jamie stand up.

"Come along, son," he said. "Let's find your best dress shirt!"

Jamie smiled, but his sparkles were fading. He followed his father regardless, Gwen eyeing him with concern.

He knew he had to do this… he was the crown prince, wasn't he?

Before long, Jamie was dressed in a white dress shirt with a red tie. He wore a sparkly pink cardigan, blue jeans, and long black boots. His sisters eyed him with caution as he headed out to a carriage, followed by the palace troops.

"Bye, Jamie!" his sisters waved.

"Good luck!" Maria cheered.

"Tell us all about her!" Lorena added in.

"You'll do great, Jamie!" Gwen clapped.

Jamie waved at his sisters; it was so hard to force himself to smile.

"Be good, girls!" Jack nodded at his daughters. "We'll be back soon! Don't get into trouble while I'm gone!"

Father and son got into the carriage. Jack grinned at his son, patting his shoulder.

"Don't worry, James," he said. "I'm sure you'll get on swimmingly!"

Jamie looked away. He wanted to speak up. He wanted to say something, but… what could he say? This was for his kingdom after all, right?

"You understand the importance of this, right?" Jack asked, his tone serious.

"Yeah," Jamie forced another smile. "I-I get it, Dad."

The Denim Kingdom, thankfully, was only a short ride away. As expected, everything was covered in denim, even the statutes decorating the town hall.

The palace, of course, was the greatest example of this: the entire thing was coated in light blue denim, even the windows and doors. The guards were wearing the stuff too; matching denim jackets and ties. The palace itself was fairly large; larger than the pastel palace for sure.

King Jack chuckled. "Sure is a lot of denim, hey, son?"

"Well, it is the Denim Kingdom," Jamie replied.

"You'll have to get used to wearing jeans!" Jack joked.

The carriage pulled up outside the kingdom. Jamie followed his father out of the carriage, towards the palace.

He swallowed. This was it. His freedom was finally gone.

The denim-covered doors opened up, revealing a large, open hall, which of course, had denim everywhere. Guards stood around, a chandelier (that was also somehow covered in denim) hanging from the ceiling. Tables stood by the side, as well as long staircases.

The Denim King stood there, gazing down at the Pastel Royalty. He wore a long, denim cape, garnished with medals from the war. He had dark skin and a dark brown beard, as well as spiky hair. A denim crown was on his head, as well as a dark blue denim sash.

Jamie grimaced at him. That's right, I remember seeing his picture in the art gallery… apparently he fought in a bunch of crazy wars when he was only 17…

"Ah, Eugene!" Jack clapped. "So nice to see you!"

King Eugene II narrowed his eyes. "… Jack. And this is your daughter… ?"

"No, no," Jack gestured to Jamie. "This is my son, James!"

Jamie bowed. "Hello, your highness. I'm Prince James of the Pastel kingdom."

He always hated introducing himself like that. Hardly anyone called him James.

Jamie then noticed… there was someone standing behind the king, almost cowering. It was a young man, probably around his age. He was tall and slim, definitely at least a head taller than Jamie. He had the same skin tone as his father, but with short, choppy blonde hair, some of it covering one of his eyes. He wore a denim shirt with golden buttons, as well as gold chains around his neck. He also wore a gray belt with a gold buckle, and smart brown slacks. His eyes were a pale purple, and he had a small, denim crown on his head.

Is that the princess' brother? Jamie wondered.

Jack smiled at the denim prince, walking over to Eugene. "Well, how about we leave these two to get to know each other? I want to see how good you are at chess."

Eugene nodded, giving the prince a hard slap on the back. The prince reached out for him, whimpering.

"You must do it yourself," Eugene snapped, before he followed after Jack. The prince faltered back.

That left the two alone together. There was an awkward silence.

Wait a second… Jamie narrowed his eyes at the 'prince'.

"Um…" he coughed. "So… Princess Eugenia, right?"

The princess nodded.

"Ohhh," Jamie nodded. "My bad… I thought you were a prince at first."

Eugenia looked off to the side, digging her shoe into the ground. There was yet another awkward silence.

Jamie smiled once again, stepping forward.

"Call me Jamie," he bowed. "So… is there anywhere you want to go, or…"

Eugenia shrugged.

"Well, your kingdom does have a few galleries," Jamie suggested. "How about one of those?"

That was how Jamie and his… fiancée… ended up in the strangest sculpture hall Jamie had ever seen. And that was coming from someone who had literally been all over the place.

"These sure are some… interesting sculptures…" Jamie commented, gazing at one that looked like an inverted carcass.

Eugenia nodded, eyeing another one that looked like a toilet with legs. Of course, all these bizarre sculptures were covered in denim.

There was more silence between the two. Jamie usually found it easy to talk to most people, but Eugenia was… different. It wasn't a great start, the fact that he could barely speak to his fiancée.

"So…" Jamie tried to avoid staring at a statue that looked like a devious pose. "Have any hobbies?"

Eugenia shrugged, staring at her shoes.

Jamie sighed. And I thought Frederick was timid…

"I'm a professional food critic," he told her. "Food is my life, pretty much." He paused. "Um.. do you like… food?"

Eugenia tilted her head. She eyed a sculpture that looked like a burger.

"… you like burgers?" Jamie asked.

Eugenia nodded. She eyed another sculpture that looked like a giant pot.

"Pottery?" Jamie asked.

Eugenia nodded once again.

Now we're getting somewhere! Jamie thought.

"That's pretty cool," Jamie told her. "What else?"

Eugenia eyed the exit of the hall. She and Jamie walked along together, leaving the room behind. They came to an open area with a gift shop, toilets, and of course, a burger bar.

"Nice one," Jamie grinned.

The prince and princess went over to the bar. The other visitors eyed Jamie's sparkles with big eyes.

"Wow, that guy's so lucky!" a guy in velvet gushed, eyeing Jamie. "He's got the hottest girlfriend!"

Jamie and Eugenia ordered their burgers, sitting next to a window. The window showed the outside of the Denim Kingdom; its residents were going about their day, all dressed in jeans, of course.

"Not bad," Jamie bit into his burger. "I taste… a lot of tense feelings."

Eugenia stared at him, strangely.

"Oh, yeah," Jamie waved a hand. "I have the ability to taste emotions in people's food. For example… I can tell this chef is getting sick of their job."

Eugenia gazed at him in surprise. She gazed at her own burger, wondering what feelings it held. She sighed, slumping back.

"Well…" Jamie looked down. "I don't need to taste your food to know something's bothering you."

Eugenia sat up in surprise. She bit into her burger, gazing out the window.

"Sorry, I don't mean to pressure you," Jamie waved his hands. "I won't make you talk. This is… weird for me too."

Eugenia almost looked like she wanted to say something, but fell off at the last second. She put her head on her hands, gazing out the window.

And once again, the silence was awkward. Jamie grimaced, gazing down at his half-eaten burger.

Eugenia suddenly stood up, gesturing for Jamie to follow.

"You want to show me something?" Jamie asked.

Eugenia nodded. Jamie followed her away from the window, towards the exit. The two walked down another hall, surrounded by silence. Eugenia pointed to a sculpture ahead; it was a beautiful denim sculpture of a prince and a princess, ballroom dancing together.

Jamie gasped. "Whoa, that's…"

Eugenia pointed again. Jamie looked closer; the prince's eyes were glazed over, and the princess had a crack over her heart.

"Good news, my little pigs!"

Jamie and his sisters perked up, eyeing their father.

"The Plaid Princes will be coming over tomorrow evening," Jack told them.

The girls cheered.

"And Jamie, Princess Eugenia will be coming too!" Jack told his son.

"Oh…" Jamie looked away. "Um, great!"

"Hey!" Lorena cheered. "We get to meet Jamie's fiancée!"

Maria clapped. "I've been waiting for this!"

Gwen eyed her brother with concern.

"Jamie?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

Jamie looked up, before smiling. "Y-yeah! I'm doing just fine, Gwennie!"

Gwen sighed. She wondered if Jamie and his fiancée were having the same issues she had with Frederick. Well, she couldn't force her brother to talk if he didn't want to.

Meanwhile, at the Denim Kingdom…

"So, GeeGee, your fiancé's pretty hot, right?"

Princess Eugenia grimaced, leaning away from her twin brother, Prince 'Skinny' Gene III. They were in the Denim Palace's dining room, seated by the window.

"I saw him in some magazines a while ago," Skinny continued, arm on the wall. "They said he's some special food critic." A smirk appeared on his face. "I heard those Pastel Princesses are pretty fine too… I can't wait to meet them!"

"You won't be meeting them today," King Eugene walked in.

"Aw, why not?" Skinny grumbled.

"Because, son, your sister needs to speak for herself!" the king snapped. "She can't keep relying on you. She will be going alone."

Eugenia sighed, gazing out the window.

"Oh, I won't take the spotlight from her," Skinny waved a hand. "I'll just be… uh, in the background! Doin' my thing!"

He spun around in the corner, flipping his hair. Eugenia sighed; as if he was fine just being in the background.

"No," Eugene crossed his arms.

Skinny sighed dramatically, flopping against the wall.

"But Papa," he whined, increasing his pitch.

"Off you go," the king waved a hand.

Skinny relented, getting up. Eugenia leaned back, watching him as he left. Skinny was very different from his father - while King Eugene II had sliced off the legs of 85 men at 17, Skinny was a flamboyant model, fashionista and active community goer - as well as crown prince. Despite not being a fighter like his father, the kingdom absolutely loved him - not just because of his looks but also his charisma.

One thing Eugenia had always envied about her twin brother was his confidence - he made it look so easy. If he wasn't a prince, he'd be a stage performer for sure.

Her father was glaring down at her.

"I hope you at least tried to speak to that boy, Eugenia," he grunted.

Eugenia looked away, sheepishly.

"GeeGee!" Skinny hissed, poking through the door. "Good luck!"

"Skinny!" Eugene snapped.

Eugenia breathed out. She couldn't help but smile at her brother's antics.

"She's here, Jamie!"

Jamie perked up, seated in the castle's foyer. A guard opened the door. Eugenia came through, a grimace on her face.

She had arrived earlier than the Plaid Princes, dressed in her denim dress shirt and pants.

King Jack walked over, grinning. "Welcome, Princess Eugenia!"

"Hi," Jamie waved.

Eugenia waved back, rubbing the back of her head. The two headed into the dining room, surrounded by an awkward silence.

Jamie looked away. "Um, so…"

"No way, she's here!"

The Pastel Princesses raced in, crowding around the Denim Princess.

"Whoa, you're so tall!" Lorena gushed, gazing up at her.

"How have you been treating our little brother?" Maria asked.

"Have you held hands?!" Lorena gasped.

Eugenia sweat-beaded, tensing up.

"Now, now, girls, don't overwhelm her!" Jack waved his hands. "Take a seat, Eugenia."

Eugenia sat at the table, Lorena and Maria still staring at her. Gwen came over, an apple pie in hand.

"Don't mind them," she smiled, warmly. "We're all just very excited to meet you." She placed the pie on the table. "Here, this is for you!"

Eugenia raised her brow in surprise. She picked up a fork, getting a piece of the pie. She tasted it; her eyes went wide. She gave Gwen a thumbs up.

Jamie smiled. No one can resist Gwennie's cooking!

"Oh, where are our manners?" Maria did a curtsy, sitting at the table. "My name is Maria."

"I'm Lorena!" Lorena waved.

"And I'm Gwen," Gwen beamed. "It's nice to meet you, Eugenia!"

Eugenia sweat-beaded, still wearing a small grin.

"Tell us about yourself, Eugenia!" Maria tilted her head. "What are your hobbies?"

Eugenia felt herself stiffen up.

"Do you like clowns?" Lorena asked. She looked away. "I mean - uh, combat?"

Eugenia shivered.

"Oh, sorry, we don't want to pressure you," Gwen waved her hands. "Whenever you're comfortable!"

Jamie sighed. He clenched a fist.

"Eugenia, if you don't mind me asking…" he looked away. "Are you able to talk?"

Eugenia stiffened up. Before she could speak, King Jack clapped his hands.

"The Plaid Princes are here!" he declared.

A/N: If I had a nickel for every time I wrote CPC fanfic based on characters that only appeared in portraits, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice…