prompt
Not all demons are up-to-date on modern Earth culture. When Sam visits from Hell for a brief trip, the demons that accompany him prove to be more annoying than they are helpful. Obviously, they have questions about nearly everything. Whether or not Sam answers them… is your choice.
Sam found Hell's library two weeks after he became King. He didn't think Hell would even have a library, but it turns out to be massive and actually very well-lit and well-organized. He spends hours there at first, and then he returns again and again, drawn to the shelves and shelves of books on occult lore and mythology. His demons don't question him, until he starts cross-referencing them with books from Earth, because Hell's library is outdated and though the information from writers of old is sometimes one of a kind, most of the time it really is outdated and Sam wants to start reorganizing the library. He was considering giving it official staff, too, since the only demon he saw doing anything to clean the library was an older, tired one who didn't much care for torture anymore and Sam wanted this place, of all places in Hell, to be preserved.
The first time he brought back a stack of books from Earth, his demons didn't say anything, but he could feel their questions in the air like a thick fog. It only got worse from there; every time he went to Earth and came back with books, or a laptop, or anything else, he can feel their stares on him, and he feels a slight prick of annoyance. He doesn't answer them, not at first, not until one of the younger demons finds him at his desk in the library. He's not surprised, since he always has demons hovering around him curiously now, slipping between the shelves as demons do, only mildly impressed at the fact that this one had the courage to actually confront him.
She walks up to him shyly, almost innocently, and Sam wonders how a human soul twisted into a demon can retain any sort of innocence, but he looks over at her and she visibly flinches. He puts it down to fear and doesn't say anything as she glances at the various books he has open around him and the notes neatly written in a notebook he'd brought from Earth. It takes a few seconds before he sees her take a breath and then speak, her voice quiet and timid.
"What are those books?"
Sam gives her a kind smile, trying to reassure her that he may be ruthless at times, but he wasn't unfair or merciless. He still had a piece of humanity, a shard that he clung to in his worst times and which was all he needed to feel human at his best. She relaxes slightly, safe in the assumption that her King won't kill her then and there, and his voice is soft when he speaks. It reminds him of years past, when he would explain to Dean the lore he'd found, and it's times like these when he curses his humanity and the ache in his heart.
She listens intently as he explains what they are and what he's doing - currently, he's making an index of every book in the library and every book he'd like to add, then he wants to move on to a new organization system. He knows it'll take him years, but he has more free time than he expected as King and losing himself in research and organization is more than enough to fill it.
It takes fifteen minutes as him and the younger demon talk before he realizes that a small crowd has assembled, floating at the edges of the shelves around him, but leaving a circle around his desk where the shelves end as if he has a force-field. Sam doesn't say anything, and he hides his smile, but he directs his voice just slightly outward and turns the books he holds up so they can see as well.
It takes another twenty before they slowly start to drift closer, gathering around his desk, and then another hour before Sam has explained his plans for the library and he has the help of sixty-something demons, all scattering throughout the library as he gives them instructions on what books to find, how to cross-reference, libraries on Earth to retrieve other books from (and not to possess a live host), and various other tasks. The following grows, to somewhere around two hundred over the next year, and Sam learns the names of most of the demons there, makes friends with them. They become more comfortable around him, talking with him as an almost-equal, and Sam finds himself looking forward to spending time with his little community of demons who love knowledge like he does.
The project is finished eight years later, and Sam doesn't need to tell any of the demons about how the library should be kept up. He tries to, but one of the demons simply gives him a knowing smile and leads him to the library, which has been completely reformed and is no longer the cold, intimidating place Sam found years ago. It's filled with demons organizing and reading and simply relaxing in the chairs scattered around, and the topics covered aren't only about occult lore and mythology. Now, the library is a place to learn about Earth's culture and humans, monsters, spirits, and everything in between.
Sam lets himself smile, thanks the demon, and relishes in the fact that they're all equals in the library as he picks out a few books and finds a chair to sit at.
He always wondered if humans really lost all of their humanity when they were twisted into demons.