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Toph didn't go into the pizza party. Partly because she doesn't know what a pizza is, partly because the linoleum on the kitchen floor makes everything annoyingly out of focus, but mostly because she wanted to be on her own. It seems she wants to do that a lot these days.

She surveyed the bunker: fixed some structural damage, reinforced it, expanded a little. But then she ends up crouched on the edge, toes curling against the rock, head bowed.

She could be accused of staring into space, except she doesn't really stare anywhere.

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"Wow," says Toph.

She jumps down off the bunker and strides over, one hand outstretched. "Can I feel?"

It's hard to get a proper feel for metal from a distance, after all.

"... Uh... sure?" Well, if she lacks visual sensors, audile and tactile would need to be her primaries. (She's got to have some kind of radar, Thrust decides, since she moves pretty certainly for someone who lacks visual input.)

Probably entirely stupidly, Thrust rolls towards the blind girl. "You gonna tell me your name before I let you feel me up?"

"I'm Toph," she tells him when reminded.

"Do you have a brain? How do you decide what to say?"

"CPU," he tells her, unbothered. It's not like the guy he rode in with knew anything about robotics. Or aliens. "Works like a brain, only not so squishy."

He's certainly close enough to touch now, though he sets down his box of components (well, he thinks of them as components) before straightening again.

There's a lot of moving parts in this machine.

Toph doesn't hesitate to put one hand- small even for a twelve year old, on the most convenient surface, and stands there for a while.

She's quiet for a while, before she finally says "Wow."

It's probably the smooth barrel of an arm-- they're easiest to move around and don't have anything that could catch soft fingers, small or otherwise.

Thrust chuckles. "Still ain't used to that reaction," he admits. "You must have some kinda tactile sensors, lady." At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if she could see exactly how all of him worked, at least mechanically-- Gabriel seemed to be able to.

"I'm an Earthbender," Toph says.

That should be explanation enough, as far as she's concerned.

"I'm getting better at metal."

"I'm not from Earth," Thrust tells her, shrugging. (The body language? Very human, if coupled with shifting so he stays upright on one wheel.) "So I got no idea what you mean, sorry."

Technically, what he means is 'no matter which way I line those two words up, I can't make them make sense in context. This is a rather common situation anymore. English is a very limiting language.'

Toph shrugs and pulls her hand away.

"Best way to explain is a demonstration," she says, and jerks a foot out along the ground away from Thrust. When she pulls a fist back into what looks like a ready stance, a boulder rises out of the ground and floats in front of her. Punching the air above it sends it flying, away from house, bunker and robot all.

"Me and the earth, we're like that. It's how I see."

Thrust watches all of this intently.

... So it's some kind of psychokenisis coupled with psychometry and apparently limited to earth and metal, with the implication that metal is more difficult to work with and sometimes, Thrust's brain acts more like a computer than a brain. "'Earthbending's a good word for it," he admits. "That's pretty slaggin' impressive. Guessin' you did the earthworks?"

There's a gesture towards the bunker. He knows she can't see it, but still.

But she can feel it, and pulls at her collar, preening.

"Yeah, that was me."

"Not bad." Not something Thrust is going to use as shelter, but not bad at all. "Didn't figure just one person'd done it."

"Yeah, well, if you don't know any Earthbenders, I guess you wouldn't."

Not that Toph herself isn't the greatest Earthbender ever, 'cause she is.

"Cybertron's pretty paved over, anyway." And by 'pretty' he means 'completely, unless you head down into the catacombs.' "If it works with metal, though, you'd have fun."

"Not everyone can do it with metal," Toph says.

"I figured it out on my own."

He takes her word for it. Either she's telling the truth or it would be pretty stupid to go 'o ya rly?' at someone who can smash him with a boulder and possibly keep him from shooting at same.

"Best way to do things," Thrust agrees. "Nobody else tellin' you what to think."

"Or what to do."

She likes this strange metal talky thing now.

"Life on the open road."

He shrugs. "I like havin' a secure base at one end, but open roads are what I was built for."

It's just that his other tire is on his back right now.

Toph shrugs. "That's OK, I guess. I didn't much like having my parents keep me a secret at home."

Thrust thinks that one over for a moment. "Were they keepin' you in reserve or somethin'?" he asks, puzzled.

She'd make a really good secret weapon.

After a second, Toph laughs out loud. The idea of her being a secret weapon is funny.

"No, they wanted to protect me."

"... From what?" Thrust asks, incredulous. "Can't think of anything'd be dangerous to you longer than it takes to drop a boulder on it."

Granted, that might depend on having a handy boulder or two. ... Maybe she could make the ground open up under someone. Really, this is a power that has potential.

Damn straight it has potential.

Toph shrugs. "There's a war on at home, and they didn't want me to get hurt, so they wouldn't let me learn earthbending.

"I just learned it anyway."

"That's a fragged-up way to think-- no offense." There's a war on... so they try to deny her access to a skill set she can use to defend herself?

Humans are weird.

Or possibly don't realize that war doesn't always care if you're part of the military or not.

Toph shrugs again.

"As far as I know they've stayed out of the war so far.They wanted me to do the same."