He hugs scared children when he's out on patrol. He does flips because people ask. He shares his churros with the pigeons. He takes photos, helps tourists with directions, limps away from fight and waves off any help that is offered.
Once there was a little girl who was crying by the roadside just as he was starting his patrol. Seeing that there were no adults next to her, he swings to her side and sits by.
He asks if she was in trouble, if everything was alright. The girl nods through tears - not even fazed by Spider-Man - and says how she lost her pet.
Peter makes it his mission to find Ruby, the girl's ginger cat and he does it as comical as he can do that her tears would subdue. He does flips and shows her little tricks as they walk street to street.
By some miracle, Peter finds her cat sitting on a tree branch. Carefully, he gets her down to the little girl who immediately hugs it to her chest.
Peter crouches beside her, a smile forming in his lips as she giggles. Then is surprised when she throws her free arm around his neck in a hug.
She yells excitedly Thank you, Spider-Man and is already skipping away with her found pet.
Peter stares at the retreating figure for a while, a sense of contentment in him.
Attaching his web to a nearby building, he swings away after the figure disappears from his vision.
These moments kept Peter going as Spider-Man more than anything did.
And it became his only reason to continue even when everybody asked if he was going to be the next Tony Stark, even when his face was splashed with the headline masked menace now unmasked!, even when the world forgot the kid underneath the spandex.
Unbeknownst to him, a teenager named Aliya is now running a blog titled Spider-Man's defense squad with her ginger cat gently purring on her lap safely.
The world might have forgotten the person, but his actions continue to live.