In an unusual move, Nathan Fillion hosted two consecutive Nerd HQ panels at Petco Park with fellow Firefly co-star Alan Tudyk. Not only did they answer fan questions, they raised thousands of dollars in an impromptu auction.

Both men raised a lot of money for Operation Smile by auctioning off Richard Castle novels, rare t-shirts and even some script pages. In one case, they sold off a bottle of Buckley’s Mixture, a terrible-tasting cough syrup from Canada, and had Nathan take a swig. He described it as “kissing a surgical wing at a hospital”

The fan questions ranged from how they got into acting to what Malcolm Reynolds would be doing ten years after the Firefly story started. Nathan also revealed an e-mail he sent to Joss after Much Ado About Nothing was released in theaters: “I just realized, Mr Whedon, that I have spent more time basking in kudos of Much Ado About Nothing this summer than I have basking in the sun.” He also said that Joss gave him a secret on how to play a bad guy: “bad guys think they’re really good guys.”

They also talked about their first Comic-Con experiences. Nathan’s first time was just before Firefly started, and he was heading there by bus. Once he heard the enthusiasm of the fans inside Hall H, he got an idea of what it was like. Alan said his first visit was for Serenity. They also had some simple rules for fans if they want to approach their favorite celebrities: don’t interrupt them while they are having a meal, don’t try to find their homes so you can send them gifts, and (in the case of Alan) wait until they have their coffee first.

There was also the usual “when we will get more Firefly” question, but Nathan has an interesting comment on what happened to the show: “Firefly never had the chance to suck. It died great…like Elvis Presley”.

Here’s both panels below…