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Jon wasn’t supposed to be on the beach. That was the one rule his grandmother gave him, that he must not walk on the beach. Gran would probably skin him herself if she knew what he was up to up here.
But what his grandmother doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
Besides, he didn’t see what the big deal was. There was nobody here.
He crawled out of the water on a patch of rocks away from the beach proper, where humans liked to swim and play during the day. He tugged his coat over his shoulders, and propped himself up on his feet like he’d seen a lot of people do.
And there! He was standing! Upright, like a proper human and everything. This wouldn’t be hard at all. He clutched his coat around him like a cape, and took his first step forward.
Jon very quickly learned why first steps should not be taken on rocks. He stumbled and fell, and now his leg was cut and bleeding.
“That looked like it hurt!” a voice called him from further onto the rocky beach, and that was almost enough to send him over the edge and back into the water. “Are you okay?”
There was a kid, sitting behind a pile of rocks on the beach. That would be why Jon hadn’t seen him earlier, then. He had curly hair and thick glasses, with bright red cheeks that showed how long he’d been out in the sun.
“I’m fine,” Jon called back. It was just a kid that had seen him, so Gran probably wouldn’t be too angry. He wouldn’t even have to tell her.
“Are you sure?” The other boy stood up and was walking over. He stopped a little ways off, “Oh! You’re bleeding,” he said.
Jon looked down at his leg. It looked worse now, with a little trickle of blood running down his leg. It stung and hurt on the new flesh, but it could have hurt a lot worse. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he confirmed to the other boy.
The child crossed his arms. “No, you’re bleeding. That means you need to clean out the wound and stop the bleeding!” he said with full authority.
“Oh,” Jon didn’t know how to care for legs. Was it really that bad? “Really?”
“Yep,” the boy got closer, sat down on the rocks beside Jon. “Do you have plasters?”
“No?” Should he? Was he failing at being human already?
“That’s okay!” the boy said quickly, “I’ve got some.” he pulled out a pocketful of little paper slips, which must be the plaster’s he’d mentioned. There was also a little bottle. “This is disinfectant!” he said, pronouncing the word very carefully, “It gets rid of all the germies before they infect you.”
Jon nodded along, fascinated by all the maintenance legs required. “Can’t we just wash it in the water?” he asked.
“No!” the other stopped him quickly, “The water’s full of germs! If one of them gets in your legs it can get super infected and turn black! Sometimes they even fall off!”
“Really?” Jon looked at his legs. They could just turn black and fall off? That didn’t seem like a very good design.
“Yep!” the boy crossed his arms, “I saw it on the telly, so it must be true.”
“Oh, okay,” Jon nodded along. This other boy had done his research.
“Yep!” the boy nodded his head once, “First we spray it with disinfectant, then we put a plaster on it.”
“Okay.” Jon agreed.
“I need you to stick your leg out, please.” the boy said, very properly. Jon obliged, only to pull back when the boy sprayed some sort of acid on it.
“That hurts!” Jon tucked his leg in against itself, “It’s supposed to kill the germs, not my leg.”
“Sorry,” the boy laughed, and Jon figured he’d misunderstood something, “The disinfectant stings, yeah? But that’s how you know it’s working.”
Jon held his leg back out, and the boy stuck the plaster on. It was a sticky red thing, and Jon figured that if he questioned it he’d only get an odd look. It was a neat texture, though, all rubbery.
“Do you mind if I sit here with you?” the boy asked, sitting down next to Jon anyways, so Jon didn't know why he even asked.
“Yeah,” Jon said.
“Cool,” the boy grinned, “It’s cool, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The water,” the boy pointed, “I mean, there’s so much.”
“I guess.” Jon shrugged.
“A lot of anything is cool,” the boy informed helpfully.
“Like rocks?” Jon picked up a fistful and let them drop with a loud clacking sound.
“Yeah, actually,” the boy picked up his own handful of rocks. “Sorry, I’m not from around here. Me going on about the ocean would probably be like you going on about a bunch of grass, heh.”
Jon didn’t know what grass was, but he didn’t really want to ask. Apparently, it’s something as normal to this boy as the ocean is to him. “Okay,” he said.
“What’s your name?” the boy asked.
Jon hesitated. He’d heard stories about creatures that could steal his name, use it as a weapon to control him. But he’d also heard that humans were mean, and this boy was kind. Besides, you also weren’t supposed to accept hospitality and Jon was long past that point. “Jon.” he answered.
“Nice to meet you,” the boy settled in next to him, “I’m Martin. Me and mum are visiting for the summer.”
“It’s not warm, though.” Jon pointed out, referencing the overcast skies and brisk breeze.
“Yeah, but I don’t have school, so it’s summer.” Martin said.
Jon couldn’t really argue with that logic.
“You have a really cool coat.” Martin said.
“Thanks.” Jon said, because you’re supposed to thank people when they compliment you. “It’s mine.” he makes sure to establish that.
“My mum has a fur coat.” Martin shifted around and pulled his book bag into his lap, “But I’m not allowed to touch it.”
“My mum had a coat,” Jon said, “I’m not allowed to touch hers, either.”
A few minutes later, Martin pulled a rectangle of something out of his bag. “What’s that?” Jon asked.
“Uh, a book?” Martin said. Jon blinked at him. “Oh, right, duh. I’m reading Charlotte’s Web.”
“Charlotte’s Web?”
“You haven’t heard of it?” Martin asked. Jon shook his head. “I can read it aloud, if you want.” the boy offered.
“Okay,” Jon said, and settled in as they settled in to read.