This chapter doesn't have much of a plot or any action, it's more so one with a bunch of Spider-Man/New Yorkers interaction and dialogue. Hope you enjoy.

The cool air whipped by as Spider-Man swung through the city, full-moon shining brightly on his red and blue form. A few gasps came from the streets whenever Spidey made a low swing, the occasional squeal from an excited child making the superhero's mouth twitch upwards.

Today had been easy-going and relatively crime-free, and the spider still had plenty of unspent energy left for the night. Heading in the general direction of Central Park, Spider-Man leisurely slinged between the tight buildings. One of Spidey's favourite spots to spend some downtime on a slow day is Central Park, where he can practice his acrobatics and swings on lower-lying objects like lampposts and trees.

Spotting the cluster of trees in the distance, Spider-Man web zipped to the edge of a restaurant near the park before launching himself high in the air. The rush of air never gets old for the web-slinger as he went through a series of spectacular acrobatics, before diving head first into the park below.

Extending an arm to shoot a web at the last second, Spidey zoomed past the heads of flabbergasted New Yorkers and flew back in the air, a couple shocked gasps and excited shrieks following his movement.

Central Park's lake came into view below the descending spider, the shimmering glow of the surrounding lights reflecting on the calm water. Spider-Man executed his last flip before shooting a web upside-down, swinging over the lake with his head mere inches from the water.

Rising back in the air, Spidey continued his eye-catching twists and spins, making those below let out a few whoops and cheers at the display. This went on for quite a while, the spider enjoying the exhilarating experience while the sizable crowd beneath him cheered and filmed every move.

After performing another set of beautiful tricks, Spider-Man web-launched off a sturdy tree branch and zoomed over the crowd, swinging past the trees and through the large park. Landing on a lamp post after a minute in a quiet area of the park, Spidey settled and took in the sight of the few people walking, talking and relaxing below him.

His form didn't go unnoticed for long however, as all it took was a lady talking frustratedly on her phone to sigh up in the air and catch a glance of his crouched form above. After staring and squinting for a moment, she let out a sound mixed between a gasp and a shriek, staring wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at the amused spider.

The few people nearby glanced at the lady in confusion before following her gaze and mirroring her reaction. Multiple gasps and exclaims of disbelief followed as Spidey lifted a hand to offer a small, slightly awkward wave.

"Oh man, Spidey!" One man recovered quickly before the others, "I gotta say, you're like my hero! Ah crap, now I'm getting embarrassed! Don't look at me..." The last part was mumbled and slightly drowned by the other excited chatter of people below him but Spidey heard nonetheless, letting out a small chuckle and giving the blushing man an eye-smile - which he beamed at.

"Spidey! Way to go buddy!" Another excited man exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air and making Spider-Man's smile widen further at the praise.

"C-Can you say hi to my kid?" A father asked, gesturing over-enthusiastically to a young - and very adorable, Spidey thought - boy who looked like the sight of his favourite hero made him forget how to breathe. What really made Spider-Man almost coo however, was the Spidey-themed scarf the boy adorned. Clearly he was a big fan.

"Sure," Spidey smiled and leapt from the tall lamp-post to crouch on top of a low fence, the father smiling excitedly. The boy, other than making a wet choking noise at the back of his throat, remained frozen, eyes bulged and jaw completely slack.

"Hello," Spider-Man greeted politely, a sweet smile adorning his large bug lenses as the others watched. "What's your name, little guy?"

The boy allowed himself a small gasp of air before swallowing thickly, he slowly turned his head to his amused father but kept his eyes stubbornly stuck on the hero. The few people around let out their own smiles and grins at the display, a phone recording the interaction.

"Go on Justin," the young boy's father encouraged, nudging him towards the hero. Blinking, the boy took a miniscule step forward making the spider's smile widen.

His eyes stared at Spider-Man's lean and muscular figure perched like an insect on the fence, the glowing white lenses smiling down at him. When the arachnid hero had first appeared years ago, Justin found the large insect-like eyes to be incredibly haunting and intimidating. In the first videos and pictures of the spider, when everyone was unsure of who or what Spider-Man exactly was and what he was after, the large arachnid's eyes shone in a mysterious and terrifying gleam on the wall-crawler's looming form. Jameson's words echoed in fierce warning at the new spider-threat.

Not anymore however, Spidey's bug-like orbs now shine in a kind, strong and reassuring light. Justin finds it impossible to look at those eyes and feel any form of fear or danger. Gripping his Spidey-patterned scarf tightly between his lithe fingers, Justin softly cleared his throat. "Hi… I'm Justin," the boy spoke shyly, fingers fiddling with the red material in his nervousness.

"Heya Justin!" Spider-Man responded kindly, lifting a hand towards the shy teenager, "I'm Spider-Man, or Spidey if you like."

Justin of course knew exactly who was crouched right in front of him, even people with Alzheimer's probably wouldn't have any trouble recognising the red and blue hero who saved New York multiple times.

Hands moving to grip his scarf once again, Justin stared wide-eyed at the hand offered to him before walking up and tentatively grasping it in his smaller one. Spider-Man grinned and shook it. "Love the scarf by the way," Spidey grinned, the father and a couple others chuckled, making the young teenager blush and smile with excitement.

"T-Thanks! I have a bunch of Spidey stuff! But my favourite's the plushie, mum got me the biggest size for my 13th birthday!" Justin seemed to have lost most of his previous nervousness, replacing it with boyish enthusiasm. "I've been a fan since like forever, you're awesome spidey!" Justin gave a toothy smile.

Spider-Man tilted his head fondly at the boy, eyes twinkling. "Thanks Justin, it really helps when you've got amazing like yourself rooting for you every step of the way." Spidey held out a fist, and the teenager eagerly bumped his own against it.

"I wanna be like you when I'm older. Helping people with a smile, you're super strong Spidey!" Justin gushed, all traces of shyness now gone in place of his growing hero worship.

Spidey shifted slightly on the fence, mouth starting to ache under the mask from all the smiling. He wasn't used to being praised and practically worshipped like this, he doesn't usually have these casual conversations with people in the first place, the conversations he does have are usually ones regarding an issue in need of solving. But if most people are a bit like Justin here, maybe he should get around more.

Extending a gloved hand, the spider gently patted Justin's auburn hair. "You can be strong, anyone can." Spidey smiled, "You don't need a costume to make a difference, my own personal heroes wore plain old clothes." Justin's hazel eyes looked like they were miniature stars with how much they were shining, and Spidey couldn't help but give the boy a couple more pats. The spider knew this night would be one to remember for the boy, and he hoped it would also be one to inspire the boy to do good things.

"That's a good one, hope you don't mind me writing that down for my blog," a woman spoke. Spider-Man recognised her as the one who first spotted him on the lamp-post, her phone held forgotten in her hand. Spidey could still pick up an increasingly annoyed voice on the other end with his sharp hearing.

"Yeah sure," Spidey lifted a finger to point at the phone. "But you might wanna get back to your friend before they blow a gasket."

"Huh?– Oh," The woman almost managed to refrain from an eye roll and brought the phone up to her ear. "I'll call you back Gary," she spoke and ended the call swiftly, her annoyed gaze immediately shining again when she turned back to the spider perched on the fence. "Anyways, a quick interview for my blog?" She asked hopefully.

Spidey shifted uncomfortably, eyes looking down. Truthfully, he really disliked interviews and questions, they always felt exposing and stressful. "Umm, I don't know about that miss, I'm very interview-shy."

His response seemed to make her deflate a bit, but she quickly perked back up. "That's okay, I understand," she smiled and Spidey mirrored it with his own eye-smile, grateful she didn't push. "But if it wouldn't be too much to ask as well, could I maybe get a selfie?" She asked, a tad bit of shyness in her voice.

Spidey's smile widened. "Yeah sure!"

"Ooooh, me too please!" Justin exclaimed, rocking slightly on his heels with excitement, his father perking up as well. Spidey barely managed to turn and smile at the boy before another man voiced his own request.

"Can I have one too, if you don't mind?" Spidey didn't get a chance to respond before the last man joined in as well.

"Sweet, me too!"

Spider-Man blinked before laughing, "Sure, but I doubt you all want one together, so one at a time please," he chuckled before gracefully hoping down from the fence, Justin bouncing up to him in excitement.

The teenager stood in front of Spidey while the arachnid leaned his tall form forward to place his head just above the boy's. He slung an arm over Justin's shoulder while the other posed in his famous hand sign, Spider-Man grinning at the camera. After Justin took the shot, he immediately checked the picture before letting out his highest pitched squeal, the boy almost vibrating with joy. "Wow, thank you so much! This is so cool!"

Spidey laughed at the sight, his heart swelling warmly. "Well, I'm glad you like it buddy!" Spider-Man ended up taking another selfie with the boy, his father in the frame too before moving onto the others, who were also sharing the same excitement.

It was the first time Spidey had ever even remotely spent this long interacting with human strangers, and surprisingly he found he didn't mind. After chatting with the New Yorkers for a few more minutes, Spidey decided to call it a night.

"We should probably get going too Justin, thanks for your time Spider-Man, keep up the amazing work!" The boy's father smiled, his son nodding enthusiastically in agreement.

"I wish my friends were here to see you too, they would'a loved you! They're a part of Spidey-Squad just like me!" Justin beamed.

Spidey blinked, his eyes widening slightly. Spidey-Squad was the self-proclaimed "official" Spider-Man fan club. The club shares real-time updates on Spider-Man videos, pictures, locations, news etc. The fan club has really grown in numbers and activities over the years, where members can share whatever they want Spidey related, one of the common things being art. There's even a group of long-time club members sharing their many Spider-Man wall graffiti arts throughout the city they draw mostly under the cover of night - though technically illegal, Spidey loved the art.

"Well, I'll have to meet them one day and thank them for their awesome support too!" Spider-Man chuckled and the boy's grin widened. Web-zipping to his previous lamp-post, Spidey perched on top and waved down, the boy and others waving back.

"See ya Spidey, keep on keepin' on!" A man yelled as the spider grinned and saluted before shooting off.

Sandra rested her hands on her knees, head bowed and throat burning, completely out of breath. Her warm puffs of exhaustion fogged her large glasses more with each breath, but she couldn't afford the time clearing them. With one last deep breath, she dragged her aching legs forward once again, lifting her head to face the sky as she ran, looking beyond ridiculous.

Sloppily pushing her dark curls away from her eyes - only to have them bounce back in place a few steps later - Sandra pounded past the occasional New Yorker giving her a confused glance. She was beginning to lose hope, the odds already being ridiculously slim to begin with, before she caught a blur of something in the distance between Central Park's thick trees. Hope and doubt flooded her heart simultaneously, but she pushed on regardless.

'It probably was a bird, what am I doing?' Her fogged glasses didn't allow her to catch any discernable shape in the blur she saw, and the darkness of the night hadn't really allowed her to catch the figure's colour either. 'Though it would be one big and fast bird…' The doubt and hope clashed relentlessly in her mind as she raced onward, detouring off the main path and through the bushes and trees for a shortcut, uncaring of the twigs and leaves sticking to her unruly hair and making it look somewhat like a nest.

Sandra burst through a thick brush into a clearing, the neatly trimmed grass of a large open soccer field surrounded by tall standing lamp posts illuminating the area greeted her through her fogged glasses. She quickly looked around, a couple leaves falling off her wild hair as she flailed her head. Sandra distantly removed her glasses for a quick clean to help her actually spot anything clearly, and the moment she plopped them back on - and adjusted them so they wouldn't be skewed - she spotted an odd gathering of a handful of people across the field. A harder squint - and more thorough cleaning of her glasses - had her almost falling to the floor in shock.

There he was, posing for a selfie beside a blushing man holding his camera, was Spider-Man.

Her mind only took a couple more seconds to process before she stumbled and rushed to make haste. Her legs burned harder than ever, the intense workout catching up and almost making her clumsily fall to her knees, but the adrenaline kept her up and trudging forward. Her eyes tunnel visioned on the red and blue man now having a chat with a grinning boy, the tall lamp post above casting an almost spotlight-like light on the hero.

"Hey, watch it!" Sandra's glasses shifted to the tip of her nose as she stumbled, the irked voice of a woman had her glancing to her right, the glasses skewing further at the movement. Shifting her glasses safely back over her eyes, Sandra opened her mouth to offer a hasty apology to the pedestrian she barged into, but the woman was already turning and walking away with a tut.

Keeping her brown eyes on the woman's back for another second, Sandra took in a tired breath before turning back to discover the red and blue form of Spider-Man zipping to the overseeing lamp post behind him, preparing to leave. Eyes widening in horror, she took a shaky step forward before stumbling and tripping to the concrete below, palms and knees softening her fall and taking a few harsh cuts and scrapes. "Oof… ouch…"

Sandra grunted and pulled herself on her elbows, absentmindedly fixing her glasses that had miraculously stayed loosely on her face after the fall, and looked up. The crouched form of Spider-Man saluted at the handful of New Yorkers below before shooting a web and leaping off.

"No–!" The despaired yell left her sore throat, the shout travelling through the empty field. The handful of pedestrians watching the web-slinger swing away immediately turned their heads her way in a fluster. She didn't mind the confused stares - along with her aching legs, sore throat and stinging pain from the fall, Sandra could only focus on the lamp post where the hero had been a number of seconds ago.

"So much for all that…" The distraught woman mumbled to herself, not bothering to lift herself up and resting her chin on the concrete instead. Her eyes spotted a tiny spider skittering across the ground, the brown creature crawling over the tiny uneven lumps of concrete as if they were hills. She stared at the spider with a pout, a mini shadow barely cast from the tiny arachnid's form as it moved by.

Just as the spider crawled out of her vision, a soft thud reached her ears and a large shadow was cast over her form from ahead. Her head lifted from the concrete to squint at the new arrival, the yellow glow of the streetlight behind making her blink for a moment. When her squinting eyes adjusted, they immediately widened in incredulity.

Standing in front of her was a tall man, lean muscle accentuated strongly by tight-fitting spandex which left nothing much to the imagination. Spider-Man.

The stinging pricked at her knees and palms, and her breath evened out but her throat was still sore. Sandra's legs also finally found some relief from their brief respite, but she noticed none of those things - only focusing on the figure of Spider-Man before her. Spidey's large shape casted a shadow over her form, his head was tilted to the side in apparent confusion and concern with his arm half-way outstretched and unsure. She managed a small, sheepish grin. "Hi."

"Hello," he responded, head tilting in the other direction. "You okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She replied, grin still in place.

The spider blinked. "Because it looks like you're taking an unwilling nap on the concrete there."

Sandra blinked. "Oh– right!" She began to gingerly lift herself from the ground before a hand moved in her vision, Spidey offering his outstretched palm. She smiled up at him and took the hand, being carefully lifted from the floor and set softly back on her feet. His hands then moved to her head and removed a few twigs and leaves still embedded in her locks, smiling at her bashful grin. "Sorry about that, I kinda got a little roughed up running here."

Spider-Man pulled out the last twig and threw it aside. "What got you in such a rush?"

"Ah, well you see…" Sandra grew a little shy all of a sudden, rubbing at her tender palms and only irritating them further. "I saw the end of your really awesome performance back there - a solid eleven outta ten by the way - and chased you through the park."

Spider-Man blinked in bewilderment, her straight face only adding to his confusion. "Uh, why?"

"... I maybe might– like potentially maybe need your help a tiny bit, maybe?" She offered, her response sounding more like a question. Spidey blinked again. "Sorry, everyone always tells me I'm weird and an odd-ball, add autism to the mix..." She mumbled to herself.

Spidey smiled toot sweet, lenses curving endearingly. "Don't apologise. I'm not exactly what you'd call 'normal' myself!" He gestured to all of himself and chuckled, Sandra beaming back. "So what do you need my help with?"

"Oh– right! Uhmm, well you see this morning I ran into a bit of a pickle." She fidgeted, rubbing her stinging palms and tapping her foot. "I was filming a timelapse of the sunrise by the shore at Hell's Kitchen using my uncle's camera, and right when I was done a pigeon flew by and snatched the lens cap right out of my hands!" She sighed dramatically, looking to the ground with furrowed brows. "The camera isn't exactly cheap at all, so I had to promise my uncle at least a dozen times I'll give the camera back in one piece." She looked up at Spidey, hands gesturing gravely. "I really need that lens cap back!"

Spider-Man was silent for a moment. "So you need me to catch a pigeon thief?"

Sandra blinked before suddenly feeling very silly as a tsunami of embarrassment flooded her, dark skin reddening slightly. She had made the biggest fuss running through almost half of central park, head shot up like a lunatic in search of a flying spider, all to ask said spider for help catching a bird. The handful of eyes on her from the pedestrians in the distance bore deeper than before, and she squirmed. Her overreaction became painfully obvious, and Spider-Man - a superhero - obviously doesn't have time to chase a morning pigeon thief. It was absurd. Sandra fiddled with her white fluffy ear muffs, the panda ears on top wiggling side to side as she brooded in her awkwardness. 'Stupid, stupid, idiot, dimwit, moron, dolt-!'

"This happened in the morning you say?" Spider-Man spoke, and Sandra peeked at him through her lashes, self-insulting monologue pausing as Spidey smiled. "It's nesting season, that's probably why the pesky pigeon nicked your lens cap." The arachnid smirked. "I'll get it back for you, should be interesting. I love a challenge!"

Sandra shot her head up and grinned widely, mood changing immediately. "Really?! You'll help me?"

"Really? You just asked me that?" Spider-Man laughed. "Of course I'll help!"

Sandra giggled bashfully and the spider's eyes curved in an exuberant smile. "Spidey's on the hunt!"

The spider swung across the streets in Hell's Kitchen, eyes sharp and scouring the skies.

Spidey much preferred to go pigeon hunting - it's always the damn pigeons - when there was a little more light, since it helped distinguish the pigeons he'd previously scoped out from the ones he'd yet to investigate. It wasn't impossible to distinguish some pigeons from others with the spider's great night-vision, but it was a little more difficult than it would be in the day.

Spider-Man shook his head, 'I've chased so many pigeons at this point that I've developed a strategy… Jameson's gonna have a field day with his next podcast,' Spider-Man released his web, twisting in a dive before shooting another at the corner of a building, swinging upside down as he drowned in his thoughts. '|Infamous pigeon-napper back at large| or something will probably end up being the title.'

The spider spotted a pair of pigeons flying relatively close by and shot another web, swinging high to investigate. Keeping his distance, Spidey web-zipped across the rooftops as he stalked the pigeons, mind wandering once again to what wild story Jameson would make of this. After a few more minutes of shadow stalking, the pigeons perched on the edge of a building. One began fluffing their feathers while the second hopped closer, head tilting and pecking at the other. They danced and played chase around the roof for a few minutes, Spider-Man slowly losing his patience at the game of pigeon-tag.

Until finally the game was over when the chasing pigeon hopped on top of the other, gently balancing themselves. Spider-Man scrunched up his nose. "Eww, I can't believe this." The spider was about to leap away to search elsewhere, patience worn out, before he spotted a slightly visible cluster of twigs and straw near the mating pigeons.

It was hidden under the building's water tank, and Spidey smiled hopefully at the find. He immediately jumped forward, uncaring of his interruption as the startled birds flapped their wings and flew away. He nimbly crawled under the water tank and keenly observed the nest.

His heart sank in disappointment at the find, or lack thereof. The nest was a lazy construction of twigs and straws strewn about without care, a few cigarette buds and cotton stuffing thrown in. Most notably though, no lens cap. "Nada, grr." Spidey huffed angrily, narrowing his eyes.

The spider sighed and turned, crawling out from under the water tank. As soon as he stood back up, his eyes widened like a deer in headlights when he spotted the building's roof door open with a figure standing at the entryway. It was a wide-eyed young man frozen mid-step, his perturbed gaze fixed on the arachnid a few metres away.

Silence stretched on the rooftops with only the distant city noise below to fill the ambience. Spider-Man broke the silence first. "Erm, hello." His white lenses shifted in an awkward smile. The man didn't respond, body stock-still and eyes wide as ever. Above the door was what appeared to be a motion sensor, and Spidey realised he must've triggered it for the young man to investigate.

Spider-Man shifted slightly. "Sorry for just dropping by?" The man still didn't move. The spider was 90% sure the person in front of him wasn't a realistic dressed-up mannequin. Spidey let the silence rein for a moment longer before clearing his throat and shifting to move to the edge of the roof. "Uh, I'll just go."

That seemed to work the young man out of his stupor, his mouth shooting open and leg taking a step forward. He stuttered for a moment before finding his voice, "Sp-Spider-Man? What are you doing here?" He briefly looked to the water tank then back to the spider in confusion, and although he didn't voice it Spidey understood the silent question.

The spider chuckled awkwardly, hand raising up to scratch his head. "Uh, nest-inspecting?"

That didn't lift an ounce of confusion from the man's face at all, in fact it looked as if his confusion doubled. He titled his head at Spider-Man, visible bewilderment intensifying before shifting his gaze to the water tank in question. "Huh? Nest?"

"Yup, pigeon nest. I'm looking for a stolen item. We've got a feathered thief at large!" Spidey quipped, the poor man's young face scrunching in complete confusion. Spider-Man cleared his throat. "A pigeon stole an item around these parts, and I'm looking for the nest to retrieve it." He clarified, watching in amusement as the man sluggishly nodded his head, mouth forming an "o".

The young man also cleared his throat. "Well, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction, I hope at least. There's this dry cleaners I frequent, a pigeon built its nest snug between the sign and the brick wall. You can spot a few odd things shoved in there if you look carefully, pretty sure that pigeon's been taking things that don't belong to it."

Spider-Man's insect-like lenses visibly brightened. "Really?" He questioned, delighted. "Think you can tell me where it is?" Spidey unintentionally leaned into the shorter man, eyes shining and body bouncing slightly.

The man leaned a little back from the excited spider, nervous smile etched on his lips. "U-Uh, of course! It's called 'Rapid Dry Cleaners' on 15th Street, big blue and white sign, hard to miss."

The aranchid's excitement somehow mounted further. "Thanks! You just saved this spider-detective from an extensive pigeon investigation! You're the best!"

The man blushed and fidgeted with his fingers, twisting them together. "No, that's you Spidey."

Spider-Man smiled wider. "Well, looks like I've got a feathered culprit to catch, thanks again for your help!" Spidey turned to leave.

The man's eyes widened and he hesitantly extended a hand. "Wait!" The spider turned back to the young man in curiosity. "Uh, sorry. Well– this was a bad idea, nevermind, sorry…"

Spider-Man tilted his head. "No go on, what's up?"

The young man tugged on his sleeve's cuff. "Uh, you mind if I catch a selfie with you.. sir?" His eyes nervously looked up at the taller man with his head bowed, looking unbelievably adorable.

Spidey instantly smiled, nodding his head vigorously. "Of course! It's the least I could do!"

The man perked up, and grinned brightly. "Sweet! Think we could take it by the edge to catch some of the city in the background too?" He pointed at the edge of the roof over near the water tower enthusiastically.

"Good idea." Spider-Man agreed, and they both walked over to the edge. After looking and figuring out the best angle to capture the city's nightlife below, they both posed for the camera with big smiles, the young man also adopting Spidey's hand sign for the shot.

His grin widened when he saw the photo, the colourful city below accentuating the picture. "I'm so glad I decided to come and check the roof."

Spidey laughed. "Me too, thanks for the tip again…?"

"Rohan!"

"Thanks Rohan." Spidey smiled, lifting his hand for a wave. The young man happily returned it, grin still stuck to his mouth as the spider fell backwards off the roof with a salute.

Disappearing for a few seconds after he fell, Spider-Man quickly flew back into vision further ahead as he swung through the streets, a particular dry cleaners in mind.

The sign was indeed difficult to miss, the large sign lit up by LEDs in the otherwise mundane street.

Perched on a fire exit beside the dry cleaners, Spidey inspected the gap between the sign and the wall. There were no pigeons, but definitely a bunch of stuff stuffed in the small space.

Moving onto the wall, Spidey crawled along the bricks to the sign. Peering in more closely, the spider spotted a few strange shapes poking out from the crude mess of twigs and straw. One object even occupied half the nest and stuck out like a sore thumb. Removing the items should be easy without any birds present and pooping in retaliation.

Spider-Man extended a hand through the gap and barely managed to finger the large object, its smooth metal making any proper purchase difficult. Spidey tried again, this time using his sticky index finger pad to attach to the object and pull it out of the nest. A few twigs dislodged as the metal object was removed but before the spider could pull it from the edge of the gap, it tapped against the wall and gave a high pitched chime.

Spidey blinked at the noise, shifting his feet and hand against the wall to examine the object attached to the tip of his pointer finger. It was smooth and bell-shaped with a small button extending from the top of the curve, the button hovering slightly from movement. Spider-Man raised an eyebrow, it was a service bell.

A small gasp made Spidey look down to the street and spot a couple teenage girls frozen mid-step, long blonde hair framing their near-identical faces sporting a look of shock.

"Now this I gotta see, Spider-Man in the flesh!" One girl - the one who hadn't dropped her ice-cream - spoke, her face a jittering excited mess. "Wow." She nudged the other girl with her elbow rapidly for a moment, excitement not waning despite the other's lack of reaction.

The other didn't say a word and kept her eyes on Spidey's large lenses, drilling holes into them with her intensity. If not for the occasional twitch of a finger or lip, Spider-Man may have been convinced she was a statue - he's a spider not a snake!

"Hello." He greeted a lot less awkwardly than he thought, despite his questionable position on the wall and the bell still stuck weirdly to his finger tip. 'Though this would be the third odd and random human encounter I've had in the last twenty or so minutes, so it appears I'm adapting with haste,' Spidey thought. 'Not sure if I should be worried about that.'

"Hi Spidey!" The non-statue girl spoke eagerly, ice-cream still gripped strongly in her right hand while the other reached to fiddle with her long blonde hair. "Fancy running into you here, of course the day I meet you is when I'm not wearing make-up!"

Spider-Man chuckled, eyes curving warmly. "A lot of people tend to say that. I always manage to meet others at the strangest and most unexpected times." He gestured to his position on the wall and the teen giggled, tilting her head and twirling a lock of hair.

"I'm Mimi, it's so nice to meet you ! So what're you up to?" She asked, still toying with her hair - Spider-Man wondered if that was a nervous habit or if she was trying to appear more feminine, though she didn't appear nervous. Her head tilted again more questioningly, eyes widening slightly in surprised curiosity. "Are you getting your clothes from the dry cleaners?"

"Ur, no." Spidey replied, and the girl seemed to deflate slightly. "I was retrieving a few items." The spider turned and gestured to the small space between the big sign and the wall. The girl moved to get a better glance from the ground though her height made it slightly difficult to get a proper look, the other girl following after a few beats. 'Ah good, so she's not a statue after all,' Spider-Man thought absentmindedly. Both girls wore a look of understandable confusion, Mimi moreso.

Mimi looked back up to the spider, an obvious question on her lips but Spidey beat her to it. "There's a Pigeon nest here," he explained, shifting to hold the bell in his palm while he pointed to the gap. "The pigeon stole a few trinkets to add to its nest, but appeared to have thieved from the wrong person since they managed to tell me. So here I am getting their stuff back." Spider-Man gave a shrug, jostling the bell in his hand as he did so to make it chime quietly. The sound took the girls' attention.

"Is that what was stolen from them?" Mimi asked, only briefly sparing a glance to her melting ice-cream after a drip touched her finger.

"Not exactly. There are a few items in there, and this was the biggest one." Spidey held out the bell in his palm for the girls to see better. "Strange find to say the least. Can probably guess where it came from." He glanced at the entrance to the dry cleaners then back at the girls.

"I can guess too. I didn't pay much attention when the bell disappeared from the desk at the dry cleaners the last couple times we went there with Mom, but I wouldn't have guessed a pigeon of all things nabbed it!" She laughed in surprise, looking over to her silent sister and lightly nudged her again. "Right Micky?"

Micky made more of a reaction this time, though it was an odd shuffle and a small head duck at the attention. "Yeah."

Mimi looked back at Spider-Man. "We were on our way home from a friend's house just now, but we did stop by the dry cleaners with mom earlier today." She pointed to the doors with her free hand, her right lifting the melting ice-cream to give a small lick and stem the drips. "Meeting you here - and with the missing bell too - is totally a surprise! A good one!" She added, cheeky smile brightening up her brown eyes. "For a second I thought you used these dry cleaners too, that would've been so cool! Using the same dry cleaners as Spider-Man!"

Spidey chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm, and began to crawl lower to the pair. He leaned forward and held out the bell, bug eyes looking at Mimi. "Think you can hang onto this and return it the next time to do your laundry?"

"Sure!" She chirped and happily took the offered bell, though not without gripping onto the spider's gloved hand and squeezing. Spidey smiled in return, and crawled back up the wall to the sign. He peered in, spotting the last couple items.

The spider reached in and touched another item, grimacing slightly as his finger swept over a wet texture. Spidey pulled his hand back to examine his index finger, pulling a face at the sight and smell of a small blotch of coffee. 'A coffee cup? Seriously pigeon?' He sighed and reached in again, being careful not to touch the same side of the cup this time.

"What is it?" Spidey heard Mimi question below as he gently latched his fingertip to the crumpled bottom of the cup.

"A small coffee cup most likely." Spider-Man responded, briefly wondering what the pair of girls found interesting enough about this to stay and watch. "Got it." Spidey pulled the cup out from the gap, inspecting the tiny scrunched up paper with a stained 'Starbucks' logo on the front. Sparing a brief second to look around and scour the streets below him, the spider quickly tossed the empty cup up over the road to the opposite sidewalk.

The girls watched as the cup toppled into a garbage bin beside a mailbox, disappearing into the black bag. They looked back up to find Spider-Man's hand wedged back into the gap for another item. He brought out something circular next, rotating it in his gloves hand as he inspected it. Spidey smiled and flipped the item in his hands, happily stuffing it in his utility belt before looking back to the girls. "Well, that was the last one. Glad it was what I was looking for."

"What is it?" Mimi asked in curiosity, taking a few useless licks at her liquid ice-cream.

"A camera lens cap to a very important camera." Spider-Man replied, shifting against the wall and bringing something else out of his utility belt. Mimi looked closer to find it was a phone. "I need to return it back to the worried lady this was stolen from," Spidey spoke while looking into the bright screen, dialling the number he was given before looking back down to the girls. "It was nice talking to you Mimi, Micky." Micky ducked her head and nodded while Mimi broke into a wide grin. "Thanks for taking care of the bell, see ya."

"Sure Spidey! Hope to see you again!" Mimi cheered enthusiastically, and Micky nodded again.

Spider-Man finished dialling the number and forwarded the call to his comms before putting the phone away. He gave a quick wave to the girls before jumping off the wall, landing on a traffic light pole and leaping through the street. He shot a web overhead, swinging over the roads and picking up momentum as he slung across the more populated areas of Hell's Kitchen.

The quiet ringing stopped with a beep as the call was accepted and Sandra's animated voice came over the line. "Hello? Who is this? Spider-Man?"

"Hi Sandra, yeah it's me. I found your lens cap!" The wind rushed by as Spider-Man swung over to Central Park, the distant trees visible after a particularly high web-swing.

"Oh my God really?! Thank you! That's incredible! I got so excited when I saw a private number on the screen. I hope I'm not overreacting, it's great you found it! Thanks!" Sandra rushed, finally sparing a moment to take an audible breath over the line.

Spidey chuckled as he swung closer to the cluster of trees at Central Park. "No worries. I'm almost at the park, you said you'd be waiting at Belvedere Castle?"

"Yup! I'm right here sitting on a bench in plain sight, no one's around and I'm trying not to tap my foot too much." Sandra replied, the excitement in her voice ample. "Gosh, what a night! I can't believe this happened! I'm torn between telling people and keeping quiet so my uncle doesn't find out!"

Spidey laughed. "You can always tweak a few details, what you lost to the pigeon isn't that important to mention."

"Aha! That's right! Oh– I think I see you!" Sandra beamed, shifting her glasses further up her nose as she spotted a tiny shadow swinging through the sky in the distance. As the figure got closer, she could make out the red and blue shimmering under the starlight, a big white spider crest stamped in the middle of his chest.

After one last swing, the Spidey performed a slow backflip before straightening and smoothly landing atop the castle's flag pole. Spider-Man perched on the pole overseeing the castle below, spending only a moment searching before spotting Sandra's familiar face - and fluffy ear muffs - and dropping to the ground with a quiet thud.

The call ended as Spider-Man jogged up to her, the woman's visible happiness at seeing him infectious. He smiled and greeted her with a small wave. "Hello again, hope I didn't keep you waiting."

Sandra smiled all teeth as she stood up. "Nonono! That was really quick, thanks for your help!" She placed her hands neatly in front of her for a moment and nodded her head gratefully, the fluffy ear muff's panda ears bouncing with the motion.

"No problem," Spider-Man reassured, reaching in his belt to grab the returned item. He held it out to her and Sandra's smile grew, her hands reaching out immediately to grasp the returned item.

"Wow, you really did it! I can't thank you enough Spider-Man." She held the cap to her chest, and looked at the spider as if he was the centre of the universe, her brown orbs shining.

Spidey nodded his head and put a hand on his hip, smile still in place. "I'm happy to help, anytime. I'm glad it wasn't damaged, your uncle shouldn't suspect a thing!"

Sandra laughed heartily. "Oh he won't. And if he somehow does, I'm sure a quick mention of your name will curb all irritation."

"Good to know you have insurance." Spidey chuckled and straightened up. "I should get going now, I hope you get home safely and return the camera with its cap to a none-the-wiser uncle."

Sandra nodded her head deeply in gratitude again, her curly hair bouncing softly. She pushed her glasses back up her nose as her eyes curved once again. "I'm sure I will, thanks to my favourite hero. See you around!" She held out her hand eagerly.

Spidey shook it a few times firmly before pulling his hand into a fist, Sandra bumping hers against his with a giggle. Spider-Man turned and jumped over onto the castle wall, giving a salute when the grateful woman keenly waved goodbye.

Spidey swung away with a smile on his lips, slinging back home on autopilot as his mind went over the night's events, lost in thought.

|Man-sized spider stalks and loots pigeon nests - egg eating menace?|

'Yep,' Spidey thought, 'Jameson's gonna have a blast when he hears about this one.'

Hope you enjoyed this story! This was very much written on the go as will most if not all chapters, though I do add and patch a few things.

Also, the 'Rapid Dry Cleaners' mentioned in this chapter does in fact exist in the Marvel's Spider-Man game, same street and all. Was it extra? Maybe. But a nice Easter egg regardless :)