Tom was feeling rather dizzy.
He was a good conversationalist. People liked him, craved his approval. Magnetic, they called him.
But no, magnetic wasn't quite the right word. With magnets, the attraction worked both ways. Tom, however, did not feel any sort of need for human company. Back when he still had his body, he had spent most conversations longing for them to be over. People were just so…dull.
But Sherlock though…Sherlock was an exception. Sherlock was completely unlike anyone else, because there was absolutely no way of predicting what he would say next. And when he actually spoke – Tom hadn't had to absorb so much astonishing new information since he'd first learned that he was a wizard. It was almost overwhelming.
First of all – the boy had unwittingly given him further proof of the utter stupidity of Muggles. What was the good of this empathy rot they were so keen on? Sentiment clouded your judgement and made you do stupid things, like committing suicide in the tomb of your not-really-dead lover (and what a stupid play that had been!) or invading Russia in the dead of winter. No, if you wanted to achieve anything worthwhile, you had to put aside petty feelings and look at the big picture.
But - the Muggles said caring was a virtue. They'd even made up a horrid word for people lucky enough to be free of it. Sociopaths indeed. How typical of the Muggles to fear and hate that which was superior, just as they feared and hated Magic…
And Sherlock had swallowed their lies. Sherlock had decided that he wanted to be a detective, of all things. But soon he would understand. Soon he would realize how he'd been deceived, and see the Muggles for the ignorant, hateful creatures that they were. He would come to see Tom's way of looking at things, and when that happened…
Tom smiled. The boy was a precision instrument, and he would be the one to wield it. Unless…
Unless Sherlock went and cocked it up by insulting someone important.
Ah, yes. That was the other thing. Sociopaths were supposed to be able to manipulate people and make themselves likeable. But this child seemed to have a talent for making people angry.
Well, Tom wouldn't put it past a Muggle psychologist to get a wrong diagnosis. Far more alarming was the fact that his best (and only) minion seemed to have the social graces of a shell-shocked troll.
That…would have to be rectified.