TENSLEY HAD LEARNED CARD TRICKS TO HELP HIS ANXIETY. He liked to have things to fiddle with and, when he was younger, he could often be found in the park tearing up grass while he watched people, not wanting to head home to do his work, what with all the noise that he usually had to deal with. It was in his favorite park that he caught sight of a woman who was doing card tricks for money, the kind where she hid something underneath and would bet with people who passed by.

It was then that he learned the true meaning of lying.

He had watched her for hours, sitting on a crate that she had began to set up next to her own crates, his eyes following her hands, confused as to how he, along with all the others, had been perfectly following where the Queen was and yet, when she turned them over, revealed the Queen in an entirely different spot.

It was only when he caught her stealing a watch that she began to teach him. Every day after school they would meet in the same area in the park—except for when it rained, which was often, which then they would meet under the gazebo, letting the rain blow around them—and she would teach him how to work with his hands, showing him the art of misdirection, as well as sleight of hand.

By the time his lessons were over, he was working alongside her, working the other end of the park, the two divvying up their money between each other, though she would often slip him a few more dollars from her pile when he wasn't looking, but he would always catch it once he got home.

Then, one day, she just stopped showing up. It was a few days after she had given him her special deck that had her name written over the worn box. Charlotte. He didn't know her last name and didn't know how he was supposed to report a missing person when he didn't know her all that well.

It wasn't until he saw her dead on the news that he realized what happened. It was then that he learned the stupidity of love. Because no matter how ridiculous his school counselor had told him it was, he had loved her. She was his best friend and, if he was being honest, he was a little bit in love with her, she was very pretty.

He decided then and there that he wasn't going to love anyone else.

It didn't work out. He fell in love with many, many people, or at the very least fell into a deep like, what with having lost his virginity with the star quarterback in the back of his car in the woods after their massive win against their rival school.

It worked out as well as could've been expected, and it hurt him when they broke up after their senior year, when the quarterback, obviously, decided to stay with his girlfriend and keep himself from being driven out of his home by his parents.

Tensley had cried for days on end afterwards, and he had no one to comfort him. He had returned the ring he had gotten at the pawn shop after saving up months of money from his work at the park and the guy working there gave him back full price, as well as letting him pick out something from a bin of stuff he was ready to get rid of, because Tensley had burst into tears when he asked what happened.

He was a bit of a crybaby as well, but that was something he didn't necessarily want to think about often. He had grown a rather thick skin over years of verbal abuse from angry strangers who called him a cheat whenever they had to give him more and more money.

He was a cheat, but they didn't have any definitive proof of it, for all they were concerned, they were just screaming at a guy who was trying to take care of his brothers. Of course, he just stole their watches and wallets afterwards for retribution, so all was right with the world in the end.

It was in that very park that he stood, surrounded by a large group of people, sitting across from a man who just wouldn't quit. They had been trying for half an hour at this point, the two opting for double or nothing, the man certain that, once he figured Tensley out, he would be getting his money and the money that he kept in his boot.

"Are you sure, man, this is getting kind of sad," Tensley taunted, furrowing his brow in concern for the other man, shuffling his Tensley cards, trying not to show how afraid he was of getting caught in his scheme; of course, he hadn't been caught before, so he shouldn't have anything to worry about.

His Charlotte cards were resting alongside his money in his boot, and they had initially used his Charlotte cards, as they had gathered a crowd and he always liked to think that Charlotte had left a little bit of luck within her cards, but when the man started to become more agitated, he decided to throw him a bone, stating that he was going to switch them up with his newer deck, letting the man go through all of them to make sure he wasn't rigging anything.

In reality, he just didn't want the man to tear up one of his Charlotte cards in a fit of rage when Tensley bet him out of his home, car, and retirement fund. It had happened to a few of his Tensley cards—he had many Tensley decks—but he didn't want to risk his Charlotte cards.

"Just watch, I'm gonna get it," the slightly older man declared, and Tensley was really hoping this would end up in sex, because this guy was really hot, if not pretty stupid.

Then again, he always liked sex more in theory, he hardly ever went out to clubs and he was always afraid of having a panic attack whilst in the middle of sex. He had a lot of concerns, but he did like it.

The fact that he was thinking about sex while shuffling cards showed just how terrified he was of getting caught. He did not want to go to jail or whatever would happen if he got caught. Maybe he'd be beaten up. Maybe murdered. The list was infinite, really.

"Okay," he said simply, showing him the three cards, setting them in a row, running the back of his hand over them as a way of a flourish, switching the cards as he did, "I think you know the rules at this point."

There was laughter from all around, and the man in front of his laughed too, and Tensley always loved acting confident in front of strangers, because he could act however he wanted, they wouldn't know just how much he wanted to go home and sleep.

The two began their continuous song and dance, people shouting along to help the man, multiple people keeping track, and Tensley smirked, already knowing that they were beat, because people hardly ever changed their perspective.

"Which one?" he asked, with another flourish over the deck, but not switching them up, because he had to keep consistent so no one questioned him.

He had already been questioned about it by a little girl who pushed her way to the front, and he explained that it made everything more exciting, deciding to put on a show, letting her play, adding the flourish and not adding the flourish, not changing the card when she played, so she won both times, deciding that his flourish was better.

It had frustrated his current victim to no end and it was then that he decided to switch out his Charlotte cards.

The man tapped the one on the left and Tensley pursed his lips, nodding solemnly. "You sure you wanna go with that, bud?"

The man nodded, looking around to the others who shouted, though one person shouted to try the one in the middle, shake it up, and Tensley had to fight back a smile, because while the man should just try to tap any random one, the Queen was the one on the right.

"I'll do the middle," he said, and some of the crowd groaned and another half cheered, and Tensley considered asking for donations since they were already such a gracious crowd, maybe they could really show him their love.

They always loved it when he did jokes like that, they would often hand him a few dollars because he was entertaining.

Sucking air through his teeth, he let out a low groan, turning over all the cards, pointing to the Queen on the right. "You wanna just give up now, bud, this is getting kind of sad. I don't think that I, as your competitor, should be allowing you to just waste your life away on something as hard as this."

That always riled them up, mentioning that it was hard. Charlotte had taught him that as well, the art of getting into their heads. If he implied care towards his victim, yet an underlying narrative of incompetence within his victim, it would always wind up in them going bigger, needing to prove their worth.

It tended to be more prevalent in men, though he tended to attract men just off the bat. Of course, there were a few ladies that showed up, usually in groups and just for fun, and he enjoyed taking their money and laughing for a bit, but they always just sighed and shook their heads, heading off on their business a few dollars shorter but with a fun story to tell.

He liked girls a lot, they made him happy, and the ones he liked to take home were always the cute, giggly kinds; the ones that were more confident and bold drove him into a respect so great it turned into fear.

The fact that he was thinking about girls was clear that he really needed to go home and stop being surrounded by all these people, it was starting to mess with his head and his facade was starting to crack, especially under the now determined gaze of the man across from him.

It would be great to sleep with him, if only it were nighttime, then he would've had more of a chance.

Back to the task at hand.

"Triple or nothing, we're going big, this is the last time," the man declared, and under any circumstance it would've been extremely hot, but Tensley was starting to get nervous, because if there was a chance that the man would succeed, he really didn't want to have to give up everything.

Maybe he'd have to offer sexual services. Not that there was anything wrong with that, he was in full support of sex work and the protection of those within the industry, though he wished that those individuals, if they worked because they had to, would have been given opportunities to not have to subject themselves to it if they didn't enjoy it, and he really, really, really needed to go home, because his mind was starting to wander, and he couldn't afford to be sloppy with this.

Shaking his whole body out, he groaned, stretching this way and that, and his victim did as well, Tensley taking a deep breath as he calmed himself, trying to think of the best way to go about this without being obvious in his cheating.

Then he had an idea.

"O-okay," he said, trying to seem as though he was hiding the tremble in his voice he allowed to slip through, laughing nervously as he began to shuffle the deck, his hands starting to shake, cards slipping at one point, and people starting out shout, catching his nerves.

"Scared?" his victim taunted, and Tensley just let out a laugh, albeit a shaky one, and it was strange to feel so confident despite having felt anxious the rest of the time; he seemed to be contrasting the persona that he displayed, and he really appreciated it.

Popping his knuckles and shaking out his hands, he began to set up the three cards, once again switching them around during his flourish, letting his eyes trail over the cards, acting as if his finger had subconsciously pointed to the Queen before he cursed and switched the two cards that weren't the Queen, drawing everyone's attention to it.

He sighed, looking up towards the man, giving him a tired look. "This is what you get for wearing me down, I hope you're happy with yourself man, I got a family to feed."

It was meant as a joke and taken as a joke, and people simply chuckled as he began to switch around the cards, moving fast, then slow, making sure to let his eyes train on the card that wasn't the Queen, tongue poking through his lips, before letting his eyes snap back away to neutral, and he knew that his victim was watching his face to make sure.

Finally, once he finished, he let his finger catch onto the opposite card, deliberate enough that it seemed as though he was trying to make up for his "slip" and change the other man's mind, but he had played to his ego so much that he didn't even think about all the other times he had been beat, reaching out and turning the card over triumphantly, only for his face to fall when he caught sight of the Joker.

The Joker. Tensley actually let out a short laugh at how timely it was. He covered it with a sharp intake of breath and a low groan, shaking his head as he turned around the other two cards, tapping the Queen.

"Guess you're just King material," he said softly, and everyone around in the crowd 'ooh'ed, stopping their groans and shouts of indignation and sadistic humor at the man's incredible loss.

Thankfully, he didn't try to put up a fight, the man only angrily throwing down his money, and Tensley quickly shoved it in his boot, jumping up and holding out his hand. "Hold on, man, wait, I don't want us to be enemies over this, I wasn't trying to hurt you, I swear, I'm really sorry, but I can't really give this back, I run a business, you know, I actually have people back home and school to get myself to."

The appeal to emotion always got them, and he added school to make sure no one tried to pull the college card on him, though the mention of providing for others seemed to be enough to refute that arguement entirely.

This victim was the textbook example of Charlotte's teaching, reaching out to shake his hand in acceptance, loosening up, and Tensley tugged him close for a hug, slipping his watch off in the proccess, patting his back.

"You take care of yourself, thanks for being such a sport, it means a lot, God bless," he said, slipping the watch into his jacket pocket, bending down to start cleaning up his cards, giving a double handed wave towards the man and the rest of the dispersing crowd, "Take care, everyone, have a good night!"

He sighed as he shoved his cards into his boot, stacking his crates and tossing them over his shoulder, high tailing it out before the man realized that he had swiped his watch as well; he would probably have to lay low for a little bit, because he had taken a total of two hundred and fifty dollars from him alone without the watch.

He sighed as he reached a crosswalk, waiting for the light along with everyone else. He appreciated this, standing amongst a crowd who didn't care about him or what he was doing, able to just carry two crates with only a few people giving him strange glances, and while that bothered him to no end, it was better than everyone looking at him.

He loved the anonymity of the city, it was everything he lived for.

As he began to walk home, he thought about all the factors that led to him in the exact position that he was, over three hundred dollars richer with cards in his boots, crates over his shoulder, and care in his heart.

It was a strange thing. His anxiety had held him back so much, yet it was also the cause for his success. Because none of this would have ever happened if he hadn't gone to the park and caught sight of the cards that sat in his left boot.

To think, he was making money doing card tricks. If only it had stayed that way.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 09.27.18 )

I didn't realize how amazing Tensley was until I started writing, this boy deserves so much love, I'm having so much fun writing his narrative, because I get to go on tangents when his mind starts to wander, and it's so much fun, I've missed doing this. Also I love that he names his cards. And don't be mad at his football player ex, the boy was in fear of his life from his terrible parents, and he and Tensley had stayed together for over a year (of course, cheating is never okay, but you know what I mean)

I know it sounds so weird that I'm talking about how much I love aspects of a character that I wrote, but they just sort of appeared because it fit him, not because I tried, you know? There's nuance, if you write, you might get me.

There was also a little reference to another character that I have in this, tell me if you caught it, because it's a little nuanced, but pretty important. If you've read by Bucky fic, you know who it is.