Thomas was not a man bred for manual labor. Though he certainly appreciated muscles in other men – especially when he was able to show that appreciation in a physical sense – Thomas himself had never once held the need to acquire his own. His was a clerical and political lifestyle – he had no designs toward military or nautical pursuits and was truly quite content with his life among the gentry. 

His lofty goals for others aside, he benefited from his own privilege and though he recognized that and was willing to seek ways to close the gap, he never saw reason to make overt physical demands on himself. Which was why, upon being sequestered away on the plantation, the changes that his body underwent over time were exceptionally notable and fascinating to him.

Finding ways to occupy his mind is something that Thomas has always needed to do. His is a mind that is constantly at work, and his need to occupy it is often a driving force behind his actions and routines. This was no different on the plantation and, as his body adjusted over time he began to think more clearly past the pain and notice things.

The most notable was when his biceps began hardening and developing to what they will eventually become when he reunites with James McGraw. Having never before worked so hard and so long to cause muscle to form, the hard, aching discovery alarmed him. He reported it as an illness, and was not completely mocked for it – for he was not the first to make the mistake. 

From then on Thomas began to focus beyond the blisters and the sweat, from the pain and the aches to the locations of those pains and aches and began exercising what little fundamentals he understood about anatomy to begin focusing the changes and hopefully, aiding their progression so that the pain could, in time, ease away.

He never really lost his fascination with his own physical transformation and the habits he built to make the changes more uniform became ingrained in all that he did. It has resulted in a healthy balance of muscle and a strange sense of body positivity despite how he was forced to acquire it, because he feels he had a say in how it transformed. Any small sense of control over his fate is one Thomas holds on to tightly, and one that defines greatly how he feels about things.

By contrast, his hair – which he never cared about before – was forcibly sheered on regular intervals. As a result of this, upon obtaining his freedom, he grows it long and is generally very adverse to people touching it without his express permission. While by contrast, touching his arms or his stomach, even his legs, is generally quite welcome and positive.