My JIB9 Cockles Auto Story
So Iāve been promising to write this for two weeks and here I finally am. Apologies in advance - this will be long, there will be a lot of swearing, excessive punctuation, and gross fangirling. Also, for the record, I am NOT a Cockles shipper, before anyone wants to go there. I love Misha and Jensen together as friends and I am endlessly fascinated by their relationship. I do NOT think theyāre secretly fucking.
So picture this - itās Saturday at the con. At this point, I donāt think I had actually seen Misha up close and in person yet. So this was my first interaction with him. If you havenāt been to JIB, the autos take place in a big tent off the side of the hotel. Itās hot as hell in there and youāre waiting in line for ages, so thereās plenty of time for anxious sweating. It wasnāt that busy though and there were only a few people behind me. I noticed Jensen was there too, just finishing up.
I finally got up to Mishaās table and I had a piece of TFW art for him to sign, and a bar of Swiss chocolate to give him. The first thing I noticed is that his eyes are like freaking tractor beams. I couldnāt actually tear myself away from them (good to know my fics are accurate). And because of what happened next, I donāt really remember any of my interaction with him. Note to self for next year: pay attention when youāre talking to the handsome man!
I stammered my way through whatever I was saying (Probably:Ā āNo I didnāt draw this, I commissioned it from an amazing artist friend, useless blabbering etcā) when I felt a presence on my left. Theyāre pretty strict about whoās allowed at the auto table during the session so right away that was weird. Then I noticed that everyone around me (the handlers, people waiting behind me) had gotten really quiet, and Misha was no longer looking at me but at whoever was standing next to me, with a twinkle in his eye. So I turned my head to see who it was and stopped breathing.
It was Jensen Fucking Ackles. Standing right next to me. There may have been some other people with him (Cliff? Daniela?) but I was blinded by the absolute perfection of his profile. His face. Itās TOO MUCH. He was wearing a black button down shirt, and folks, heās surprisingly small in person. Like heās tall, but super lean. He was holding something out for Misha to sign. (At this point, if I had been able to function, I wouldāve said something cheeky about him interrupting my auto, but alas, I didnāt speak the entire time this was happening.)
Each auto table has a piece of A4 paper taped to the front with the actorās name on it. So Jensen had just finished his autos, apparently wanted to fuck with Misha, and decided to take the paper off his table and ask Misha to sign it. And Jensen also decided to pretend like this was an actual fan interaction, because who isnāt a fan of Misha (DONāT ANSWER THAT QUESTION I DONāT WANT TO KNOW).Ā
Jensen:Ā āHi Misha, can you sign this for me?ā
Misha plays along, and takes the paper from Jensen. Jensen goes into full fangirl mode, says something like,Ā āOh wow, Mishaā, and puts his hand over his heart while pretending to be super nervous and short of breath (I realize now that Jensen was possibly making fun of me - what a beautiful jerk).
Misha:Ā āItās great to see you again.ā *signs paper*
Jensen: something likeĀ āOMG Misha, youāre so greatā or āOMG thank you Mishaā or something to that effect (If anyone who was there can confirm, please do!)
Jensen: *reaches out to hold Mishaās hand*
Misha: *takes it then remembers theyāre role playing*Ā āNo Iām not - youāre not allowed to touch me. No touching!ā
The handlers joined in at that point -Ā āNo touching! No touching!ā - while Misha and Jensen were still sort of touching, and I think I giggled hysterically. Then someone, and I have no idea who this hero was, yelled,Ā āNo kissing!ā Others joined in,Ā āYeah donāt kiss, you guys!ā Everyone dissolved into laughter and Jensen took his paper back. And it was over. And I was somehow supposed to finish talking to Misha, get my stuff, and walk away without passing out. Obviously I had to record my reaction and post it on Twitter for posterity - I regret nothing.
As if that wasnāt enough awesomeness, fast forward to the next day. I was waiting in line for Jaredās auto. Once again, Jensen was finishing up his autos. I noticed theĀ āJensenā paper was back on his table, complete with Mishaās signature from the day before. I knew it was Jensenās last auto session of the con. A crazy thought entered my head. What if I could get that piece of paper? (Side note: if you know me at all, this is not me. I am shy, reserved, cautious, hate to stick my neck out or draw attention to myself.) But what the hell. It was a con highlight for me and how cool would it be to have something to remind me of it.
The Jared line wasnāt long so I decided to risk it. I left my place in line and approached Daniela, not without a fair amount of trepidation, I might add. But I figured the worst thing she could do was say no. I went over to Jensenās table, where Daniela was sitting next to him. Luckily he was talking to one of the other JIB people so I didnāt have the added pressure of having to talk to him. I told Daniela what happened and asked if I could have the paper. Iām surprised she even understood what I said, given how nervous I was and how quickly and quietly I was talking. (Even though Jensen had made the thing happen, for some reason I wasnāt sure I wanted him to know I was asking for it.)
At this point the other handlers figured out what I was asking, and Daniela very kindly said of course I could have it, so they got the paper off the table for me. They folded down the tape, smoothed it out, and gave it to me. I walked off, not quite believing I had gotten away with it. I went back to Jaredās line to wait to be attacked by yet another pair of beautiful eyes. (Edited to say that I thanked Daniela and the JIB staff so profusely that they for sure thought I was unhinged - and in case any of them read this - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INDULGING MY WEIRDNESS!!!!)
A few minutes later, Jensen got up to leave the auto room. As he was walking past our line, people were waving and screaming, and I held up the sign. He saw it and gave me the sweetest grin and a thumbs-up (maybe finger guns? I canāt remember). I like to think he remembered having broken me the day before, but letās face it, he was probably just being a sweetheart to a deranged fan.
And thatās the story of how I got this:
