First Meetings

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A/N - primarily Cockles. No wives or kids in this universe.

"Right," Dean growled, doing his best to sound intimidating while actually being shaken beyond compare. This thing - whatever it was - had just rendered every one of their weapons useless. "And why would an angel rescue me from hell?"

The being, who had been looking at Dean as if it had been trying to put some kind of puzzle together, straightened up and refocused its gaze. Dean felt a shiver pass through him involuntarily at the intensity of its glare.

"Because God commanded it," Castiel answered, impressing each word so that it seemed to resound louder than anything Dean had ever experienced, despite the raspy voice that carried the words. "Because we have work for you."

Dean felt sure that the freezing burn of those eyes, eyes the colour of cobalt, so sharp that they must have been cut from the metal itself, was piercing right through his skin. One thing was for certain - after tonight, nothing would be the same again.

"Cut!" the call rang through the air, and a whistle sounded from somewhere. "Good job guys. We're done for the night."

Misha Collins relaxed his shoulders, and let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding. People moved around him, starting to pack up their equipment and the set. He felt his throat ache a little, from putting on the deep voice. Oh well, at least this gig was only for a couple of episodes, right? He went to go get a drink of water, unaware that a certain actor's eyes were still following him as he pretended to listen to one of the producers.

Misha felt a little intimidated by the crowd of people currently milling around, who all seemed to know each other. Sure, he was good with new people - with most people, really - but it was slightly more complex when the people in question had all been working with each other for three seasons and he was the outsider. It felt like he was the new kid at school where all the cliques had already been formed. He took a sip of water, feeling relief as it soothed the faint soreness in his throat.

"Hey, it's Misha, right?" he heard a voice behind him say. The voice was friendly and welcoming, and Misha thought he could detect a deeply buried accent underneath it.

He turned around, and there he saw Jensen Ackles looking back at him, one of the two starring faces of Supernatural, and the man with whom he had just done a very powerful scene. Misha had known about the show, had even watched it, before the auditions for the new demon (which turned out to actually be for an angel, naturally) had come up. So he recognised the face well, but he was only really accustomed to seeing it on a TV screen. He still couldn't quite believe that he was here, face to face, working with the actor on the same show.

"Yeah," Misha replied, silently grateful for his ability to keep a casual tone in his voice. He held a hand out. "And you're Jared Padalecki, right?"

Jensen just looked back at him for a moment, with something Misha couldn't quite determine in his eyes - the colour of rolling hills in summertime - and Misha suddenly felt anxious, inwardly kicking himself. Idiot. You don't crack jokes this soon after meeting someone. But then, a slow smile worked its way across Jensen's face, and suddenly, he was laughing, tipping his head back. He shook Misha's hand, still shaking with mirth.

"I like you already," Jensen said cheerfully, and Misha grinned, feeling something inside him flutter . "You know, your voice is kinda different in normal conversation."

"Yeah, I probably went a little over the top with that, huh?" Misha asked, looking down embarrassedly.

"No!" Jensen said hurriedly, and Misha looked up again. "I mean, yeah, I'll admit I was a little freaked out for a moment there. By the voice and the face and the whole thing. But in a good way! It's awesome how you didn't just play yourself, you know? I see that with so many guest stars, they don't really bother making conscious acting choices like that for their characters. They just come in, say the dialogue and move on. But you didn't, and trust me, the audience is going to love you for it. It was really cool."

"Really?" Misha said, pleasantly surprised and feeling a sense of relief.

"Yeah!" Jensen insisted breathlessly. "And you were kinda cute while doing it, so..."

Jensen suddenly cleared his throat, and looked away shyly, and Misha felt himself flush. Wow. Did Jensen Ackles really just say that to him?

"Hey guys," a gruff voice interjected, and a hand landed on Misha's shoulder. It was a crew member, whose name Misha had forgotten, glancing between the two of them with a pleased glint in his eyes. "Great work, boys. Really electric. It just leaps off the screen. I've got a good feeling about this season, I really do."

"Thanks, man," Jensen grinned, returning the clap on his shoulder. "You're right, this season is going to be one to remember."

His eyes flicked back to Misha as the crew member grinned back, and moved off.

"Well, I'm Jensen by the way," Jensen established, his hand cutting through the air in a very Dean-esque fashion. "Just to clear up any future confusion, and subsequent awkwardness."

"Hmm," Misha said, in mock-suspicion, narrowing his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I was, until recently," Jensen chuckled, winking. "Come on, let's go get a coffee."

"It's night," Misha argued, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, make it tea then," Jensen said impatiently, rolling his eyes. "I don't actually care, I just want to chat to you some more. Now, are you coming or not?"

Misha pretended to mull over it, earning a frustrated sigh from Jensen, and he smirked. "I suppose. Let's go."

Seems Castiel and Dean Winchester weren't the only ones with stars in their eyes tonight.

A/N - You know what the best thing about writing this was? I didn't have to make up most of what Jensen says about Misha's performance. He's actually said most of this, even the part about Misha being kind of cute while doing it.

I swear, it's like they want me to ship them.

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