Chuck barely looked at Carter as he spoke. He was busy surveying the room the way lion would survey his kingdom, his eyes moving slowly from Serena and Blair, to the well-guarded doors, to (Chuck frowned) Nate and the back of some dark-haired boy's head. A dark-haired boy that looked suspiciously like Humphrey. Chuck was tempted to abandon Carter and go kick the interloper to the curb right away, but his eyes drifted back to Serena, and he decided that, for now, he would be a gracious host. Besides, he could use Dan later if he needed to, given Serena's obvious and inexplicable soft spot for him.
The whole thought process took about twelve seconds, but Chuck's disinterested air gave him the illusion of easy, detachment in the face of Carter's barbs. This was a trick he'd learned from his father - look anywhere else, act busy, make the other person feel like they're unimportant - you'll frustrate the other person and take away their power. Still, Chuck's eyes narrowed slightly when Carter brought up the protective parent business, but he managed to force apathy back into his face for his response.
"It is nice," he agreed. "But where are your parents, Baizen?" Chuck deigned to give Carter a fleeting glance before his eyes turned nonchalantly to his phone. "Do they even know you're in town? I'm sure they'd be overjoyed to know their son's in town."
Again, Chuck ignored the last question. Obviously his father had more important things to do than to be here looking after a bunch of high school kids, and if Carter had to ask, then he was an idiot.