2014.05.02 - Assignment: Carter Hall

Out of the blue, without any scheduling ahead of time, a knock comes on the office of Carter Hall. Followed by a louder knock, before Kiden's voice can be heard on the other side. It remains to be seen if he recognizes the voice, seeing how often Kiden just doesn't bother to show up to class. But then again, the times she shows up tardy may help her stand out. "Yo, Mr. Carter, if you in there I need a few minutes, cool?"
Opening the door Carter raised a brow at his student, "Usually students aren't so eager to see me. What's up? Take a seat," Carter gestured to Kiden before he shut the door. His office was like all the others. Simple walls with a nice desk. Carter had a few piles of papers neatly tacked along with the recent tests he was grading. Instead of family photos are smaller framed artifacts and a few photos from different digs he had been on. "What do you need Kiden?" he sat down at his desk.
Walking in when the door opens, Kiden sits down as Carter suggests, but without asking permission moves to rest her legs up on Carter's desk while leaning back in her seat, tilting it to balance on its hind legs. "Well, apparently, you got some serious issue, Mr. Carter, and I've been called upon to help you along, no biggie...but it'll make your life better. Word."
Grabbing Kiden's legs like it was no big deal he set them on the ground before sitting down. From there he put his own legs on the desk without disturbing papers. Apparently the man has doen this many times before, "When it's your desk you can wreck it with potential shoe scuffs. And I have many issues but what has brought you to my office?" he grinned not expecting Kiden's visit to be too serious.
Kiden groans as Carter is rather quick to remove her legs from his desk, "see? That's part of your problem," Kiden calls out, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the desk now. "Well, apparently you're dry as a bone," Kiden points out while brushing a hand through her hair, "soooo...Ms. Frost asked me to take special care of that, and help you out a bit, y'know. It's like homework, just better, cause I really get to make a change that matters."
"She wants me to be less what now?" Carter asked raising a brow to her. One of the reasons he was dry came due to the night life. Keeping a low profile was key and the costume was free rage therapy. So in his mind here was no need to mess up a good thing. "And how does she want you to do that?"
"You know, if we're gonna be direct about it, less of a tight ass, can I say that to a teacher?" Kiden asks right after stating what she probably should not have stated, "anyways, whatever we call it, you need to loosen up a bit. Y'know? So, that's what I'm here for, I'm kinda like an expert in the field, as my not so perfect attendance record might attest to!" Kiden seems mighty pleased with herself, as she waves her hands in dismissal, "don't worry, we're not going to be using any narcotics or drugs or anything, do you smoke by the way?"
"I'm plenty loose! I'm seeing someone ten years my junior so umm...plenty loose thanks," he grinned ath the student and just waggled his eyebrows. The man wasn't kidding when he said that. "Plus I teach self-defense at night so again...not really a tight ass. I just work here and want to be respectable. So I may come off as a tight ass. Hell, I'm friends with Wally West. I can't be that much of a tight ass can I?" he grinned at the student as she was trying to figure him out now, probably or so he surmised.
"Oooh, 10 years your junior? That sounds juicy, who is she?" Kiden asks without ever considering it might be a private thing. Shaking her head, Kiden quips, "y'know, being dull and being respectable don't need to go hand in hand? Look at Ms. Frost, she's respectable, but she's also fun." Shrugging, Kiden quips, "all I know is there must be a reason I was given this project, so, how about we go out and have some fun? It's not a date or anything, trust me."
"I just don't flaunt it like my boss," he grinned at Kiden then sits back. Then he raised a brow, "Why did she give it to you?" he asked. Emma always had a reason for doing things. This was probably no expectation. So what was that reason?
"Riiight," Kiden mutters, looking down at her necklace as she starts flicking the pacifier attached from side to side. "Obviously because I'm a pro at relaxing and going with the flow, d'uh." She then looks up and sticks a finger in her mouth, pulling on her cheek before asking, "do I have something in my teeth?"
Shaking his head no at both her question and statement Carter just gave the student. He wasn't buying the logical given to him. Standing up Carter opened his door, "I gotta hit the gym soon. So umm...are you going to follow me there like a babysitter and maybe hit some weights with me?" if she was going to shadow him then he wasn't going to make it easy on her.
"I have a better idea, let's ditch the gym altogether, and go get milkshakes," Kiden offers with an angelic a smile as she can muster, "isn't that like at least a 200 percent better plan?"
Grabbing his gym bag Carter let out a loud, "Nooope. But we can get some greasy burgers after to help wash down those shake," he was moving down he halls looking back at Kiden. "Are you a little afraid to do some running? It won't kill you and I know of a good burger place. Things are so greasy you'll wonder when your next heart attack is." Going forward again he kept moving, "C'mon Kiden. You agreed to your Headmitress's work, this is part of it." Again he wasn't going to make it easy.
"I think gym is a terrible idea, Mr. Carter, and I'm afraid given my assignment, I have to call a veto here," Kiden says, looking rather relaxed, before she just outright disappears. She's not there anymore, and if Carter pays attention he'll notice his gym bag disappeared as well. If he turns around towards the door, Kiden is actually there, leaning on the door frame and beaming with a toothy smile at him. "So, seeing as your gym bag is all misplaced, how about that milkshake?"
"Where's my bag," Carter said trying to be as polite as possible. Deep down he was very angry. People didn't just do that. They didn't move things like that plus there were alien weapons inside that bag. His fingers rapped against the a wall as he leaned in close to her. His brown eyes showed he wasn't kidding. Somoene was very posessive of his stuff.
"Oooh it's somewhere safe," Kiden says with a devious smile on her lips, looking quite unfazed, "you know, I grew up in the 'hood, I don't scare easy. Now, if you want that bag back, I suggest we go have that milkshake." She then starts to whistle all innocent like, looking mighty proud of herself.
"Give me that bag now," Carter said in a tone that showed he wasn't kidding. His eyes looked at Kiden. Part of him that about calling in the league to figure it all out, but he didn't want to out himself like that. A sudden idea came to mind, "I..I have an engagement ring in there. So...can I please have my bag back? It's important," he said trying to sound sympathetic.
"Chill, I didn't take anything from it, I don't give a damn what's in the bag, but until you do what -I- say, you can't have it back," Kiden goes as far as to stress her point by sticking her tongue at Carter, "so, do I elevate milkshakes to a dance club, or would a milkshake be fine?" Rolling her eyes at the engagement ring line, Kiden pokes a finger at Carter's chest, "you're not seriously telling me you keep an engagement ring in a freakin' Gym bag, where it smells and everything, she should just break up with you right now. Sorry, but it's da truth."
Carter's chest felt surprisingly firm, maybe more firm than previously guessed by the student. "And yes I did. It's an heriloom and I wish my gym bag and gear thank you. Can you just bring me the bag? You got me dead to rights. Give me what I want then I'll comply, promise," he said standing firm as his eyes were focused on Kiden.
"Damn...you do take workout seriously, don't you? Your chest is like freakin' steel," Kiden remarks, sounding quite impressed too. Snorting, Kiden points out, "you probably take me for a dumb blonde, but let me tell you, I'm no air head, I know you'll only follow along while you don't know where that bag is and you need it back...soooo," Kiden offers her arm to go out of the office hand in hand with Carter, "you'll get it back, in tact, perfect condition the moment we get back to the academy, cool?"
"You're not an airhead. At least I haven't thought of you like it. Your classmates, other teachers, all of them I can't vouch for. It's not like we have secret meetings in the teacher's longue tot discuss who is and isn't a good student," Carter said it all and then shrugged. His eyes stayed on Kiden. What choice did she have? She did catch him in a pickle. 
"The gym could be funnn," he said with one last ditch effort to get her onto his side. For something that he could have controlled. Kiden was sly, even if Carter thought her absentee nature in close was a sign of a lack of intelligence...he wasn't going to thinks he was dumb after this.
"That's great, because I'm totally smart," Kiden offers half in jest, as she taps her temple with her index finger. "Oh please, even if you had teacher's lounge meeting, you know better than to think I'd give a fuck." Kiden then pauses to think a moment, before asking, "wait, I'm not supposed to use the word 'fuck' on school grounds, right?"
Kiden grins as Carter stresses how the gym could be fun, "it could be, but it's mostly totally lame." Kiden offers her own insight. "So, I say, milkshakes...or else, dance club. Pick your poison. And by poison I mean, awesome time!"
"I don't fucking mind. It's off hours. If you do it in front of Head Mistress Frost she may or may not care," Carter said with a smirk on his face. He was looking toward the student, "Milkshakes are fine," he nodded. Walking toward his office door he held it open for her, "Shall we while the night is still young?" He had no idea where this adventure was going to take them.
"Awesome, about fucking time a school had teachers that aren't stuck up about words," Kiden seems rather pleased with that. She moves to take Carter's hand half jokingly, meaning to walk out with him, "sounds perfect. You haven't had a shake until you tried Coney Island Shake."
Walking out with Kiden Cater hoped Kendra wasn't going to walk by and see this. Sure the chances were low and they weren't exactly going steady. Deep down Carter knew she would even if she denied it. The night air greeted them with a gentle chill. A black dodge ram pickup waited for them. Pulling out his keys he pressed the button to unlock the doors. "You're going to have to tell me where to go," he said softly after buckling in. Looking at Kiden, "You all set?"
Kiden is clueless about Kendra, and it sure would be unfortunate to learn about her in such a fashion, especially when she's just playing with Carter to test just how chill he truly is. "Damn...a real car, I usually go by foot, or subway," Kiden hops into the passenger seat next to the driver, and makes a thumbs up gesture at Carter, "don't worry, I'll be your human GPS, just go..." and she starts giving directions to a milkshake location of choice, hidden within the massiveness of Times Square.
Driving off toward the city Carter jut groaned. The Truck was a pain to drag through the city. On off-roads, in countryside, and the like, it was his best friend. "Does this place have a good burger? And by good I mean greasy enough to take a month off my life." Grinning he was darting through the traffic as best he could, "Burgers aren't god if they don't help send you to the grave." A chuckle rumbled from his throat as he was driving about.
Kiden looks impressed with the car riding experience, looking over the dashboard, and neat cupholders, opening and closing the glove compartment whilst giving the occasional navigation instruction. "You bet it has good burgers, but the shakes are what really makes it good enough to steal, I mean, to try."
"Yeah...right," Carter didn't have any disbelief that Kiden probably hadn't stolen some goods. Parking into the place his brown yes went to Kiden, "It's your show. Lead on Ringmaster," opening the door he stepped down. "Watch your step!" crying out for her just in case. Caressing his cheek, the chill greeted Carter once again.
Kiden looks at Carter with a mischievous look in her lively blue eyes but doesn't add another syllable. At least not until they get there, and jumping out of the car, she calls out, "prepare to be amazed by deliciousness!" As soon as she waltzes in, Kiden calls out, "two pig out burgers, and two Coney Island Shakes," she then turns to Carter, "you can get fries if you like, but trust me, it's not needed...also, you paying, right?"
Those were odd names, but it was better than Fat Burger's. Their names were able to make anyone feel like a fatty regardless of their physique. Sitting down in a booth he looked at her, "'Course I'm paying. Miss Frost would be upset I didn't pay for a student's meal. We may be off hours but I'm still your teacher. She knows my salary. She'd probably half it," it was all presumptions. Although it was probably very true. Emma was devious like that.
And Carter did like that paycheck. Superheroing wasn't exactly cheap.
"Don't be scared about the Pig Out name," Kiden comments to Carter, as if listening in on his thoughts, "just means a nice bit of pork on top along with delicious slaw, it's awesome." She looks very pleased to hear that Carter is also of the mind to pay for the meal, "you're a perfect gentleman, Mr. Carter."
"So sorta like a Cuban Sandwich. Sorta. Or Carolina BBQ," Carter offered as she sat down. Waving a hand at the paying, "Eh. I'm on the payroll. A burger and shake won't break my bank," the words were light hearted and he smiled. "So, tell me more about yourself. You've prodded me. Your turn," a nod was given to the student. Now it was her turn to share it all.
"Definitely not like Cuban Sandwich, maybe...maybe like Carolina BBQ, never tried any." Moving to sit at the table, setting their number of '58' on the table while waiting for their order, Kiden muses, "Ms. Frost told me to take you out for some relaxing, so it's more like a school assignment...buuut, if you really care, what exactly do you want to hear about the one, the only, the infamous and widely hated Kiden Nixon?"
"Why were you given the assignment?" Carter asked after returning with number fifty-eight. Setting it down he looked at her, "Whatever you want to tell. No bullshit though. I only awnt to hear the truth," sitting down he eyed the sandwich suspiciously. Taking a big bite he savored how it tasted. Munching on the sandwich he nodded. Normally Carter wasn't a slaw guy, but it was good on that sandwich.
"Beats me!" Kiden shrugs, "I came to complain about an alien invasion, and Frost was all like, you gotta go teach the crazy fives times twins and that Mr. Carter guy how to chillax, y'know?" Kiden grins when the food finally makes it to their table, and she immediately reaches for the straw, sucking loudly while closing her eyes to enjoy the 'shake. A moment later and she beams at Carter, "this is what heaven tastes like, I swear." Kiden takes a moment to think when Carter asks her to tell him something about herself, and then she eventually mutters, "I had the best dad in the world, and life sucks, I think that about covers it. Oh, and my brothers are retarded, not that I have to deal with them anymore."
Chuckling at Kiden's confusion Carter didn't fully believe her. He felt like it was a half-truth. That a few bits of that conversation were staying hidden. That didn't show on his face. Shaking his head to the burger, "It's Good. I wouldn't call it heaven. What used to be heaven for me back in college were two places. Gabby's and Mario's. Both in Tennessee. I'd used to make treks out to them." Smirking he leaned back listening to Kiden, "What made Dad so good?" The "Life Sucks" part of the equation Carter guessed fit into the best dad in the world part.
"The burger is alright, but I was talking about the 'shake, d'uh," Kiden grins at Carter as she goes about eating her own burger in the least ladylike fashion imaginable, not that anyone could ever accuse her of being ladylike. "Well, he was a cop, but he was the best cop the kindest cop, and I was a little girl, and he was my hero. He also made everything okay, my mom used to be a human being when he was alive, now she's a hateful witch."
Drinking at his shake Carter nodded in a surrender. She had a point about the drink, it was quite tasty. "Did he die in the line of duty?" his voice carried a sense of sympathy. Kiden being the daughter of a cop was hard to imagine just because he figured the princess of a cop wouldn't bend or break the law so much. Then again if she was devastated by the loss...The death of law and order within Kiden could have died with him. "Why is she hateful?" After a pause Carter added, "I lost my parents too. I wasn't that much older than you when it happened." Hopefully the info was a means of showing Kiden if an ear was needed, Carter knew what it was like.
Kiden looks a little more somber at the question, and instead of providing an answer she just takes a big ol' bite of the burger and starts chewing animatedly, making it quite obvious she can't talk with her mouth as full as it is. When she finally does finish that tremendous mouthful, she answers the later questions, "because she's a primo bitch who thinks I'm still a little girl, and she wanted me gone, and well...I was 4 when I lost my dad." To be fair, Kiden's mother never really wanted her gone, but that's what she was told by her big brother when she tried to come back after months of being a runaway, and she never bothered to check.
Wincing he gave Kiden a nod. "I'm sorry," it was the only thing Carter could say on the matter. honestly there wasn't really words to help out Kiden's situation. Hallmark didn't exactly make "I'm sorry your Mom was a bitch cause your dad died," greeting cards. Pausing for a moment he tried to steer the conversation to brighter pastures. "Want to hear and see one of the cheesiest pickup lines you'll ever hear. Surprisingly it used to work...more than I expected," a mischievous grin was on his face.
"It's okay," Kiden says with the front runner for fake smile of the year 2014, before taking a sip of her shake, "I got this sweet shake for free, so it's not all bad." The segue seems to catch Kiden's attention, as she welcomes the shift in topic, "oh? I can't wait, let me hear it."
Pulling off his coat Carter pulled up his sleeve then flexed his bicep. Clearly the man treated his body like a temple. "You talked about the shake being what heaven tasted like...Wanna know what heaven feels like?" his hand went over the flexed muscle. A grin was pulled at the corners of his mouth, "It worked more often than you think." And oh yes Kiden's teacher was cheesy.
Kiden takes a moment to realize what she was seeing is actually the pick up that was promised, and it does not disappoint, as she bursts laughing, "seriously? That works? Damn...glad I'm not someone that would work on. They must be having it worse than me!"
"Gyms. All the pheromones are going due to increased workouts. It was college so hormones and stupidity," chuckling Carter sat back down. The grin turned into a smile as he went back to sipping on his shake. "Y'see. I'm not so boring after all. I just like to keep my professional life as professional as possible. Yeah, outside of the place I'll have a good brew, enjoy a burger, make cheesy jokes, teach a defense class," shrugging it off as if it was no big deal. "I do things, I'm a person. I'm not a robot. AT home I'll watch a good ball game, if I could see the Sounds again I would. Same goes for the Predators when it's hockey season," he sipped at more of his shake. Damn that was good. "I don't know why she thinks I'm a robot. Hate to break it to her but I'm human just like you. She could be a robot though...Runs her own company, has a school, all of those social elitist parties. Instead of sleep she runs on a battery she has to swap out every two weeks. That's my theory anyway," and deflecting it back onto the teacher. No one needed to know what Carter really did on most nights. Granted, if he was inside and grading papers there would be a Nashville Predators game on. And if Carter was in the old homestead he'd buy a Sounds ticket promptly.
Kiden tilts her head and ponders, by all rights, she should be in high school if anything. Then again, Academy of Tomorrow sort of makes up for that missed experience. "I see, so college is basically a social experiment?" Snorting, Kiden crosses her arms and leans back in her seat, "I bet you it's because I took you out to relax a bit, instead of going to the Gym again, with all those pheromones going." Either way, Kiden seems pleased enough she did the assignment she was tasked to do, well, there's still remains the creepoid five, but that's for another day. "So, now you know you don't have to be all super formal, if anything I respect you more now...when we get back, you'll find your Gym bag right where it was," Kiden winks at Carter.
"Mind tricks?" Carter asked beginning to think Kiden was a teleptath. Deep down he was very uncomfortable with this revelation. Breathing out he tried to segway back to happy thoughts, "College is a social experiment laced in with stressful tests, figuring out who you are, realizing there's people just as dorky, weird and whatever as you are. Sometimes the High School culture survives and other times it dies. -That- depends on the institution and other things," he nodded sagely. His first few years felt more like a glorified High School. Then as he progressed further that feeling went away. Before long he was surrounded by people that like to play in the dirt like he did. Sitting back in his chair, "Happy I'm not a robot?"
Kiden laughs at Carter's question, licking her fingers clean from the sauce that got on them while she was eating, "do I look like a mind trick kinda gal?" Smirking at the thought of college being where you find who you are, Kiden quips, "well, in High School I found out I could get shot at, I think I made the right choice skipping all the school system thing." Kiden looks uncertain at the last question, "I don't know, would be cool to have my own robot, but...I think you're cool, Carter."
Chuckling at her, "I've had to deal with cave ins my hole life. It's not fun. I know what it's like to kiss death or at least have her brush against you. Not fun...so I know," he held out a hand for her just trying to be morally supportive. "And I think it would be cool to have a secretary that moonlighted as a playboy bunny...it's not going to happen. With all these alien invasions though...you may get a robot any day now," Carter tossed a wink at Kiden.
"You wanna know what I told death?" Kiden offers with a mischievous grin, before offering the answer regardless of whether Carter cares for it or not. "I just said stop. Now, let's head back before you'll get accused of going on a date with a student," Kiden teases, and as she gets up to head back for the car, she quips, "offer enough pay, maybe I'll do it," but it's not clear whether she's joking or not. She clearly doesn't look like a playboy bunny type, they don't usually get in people's faces.
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