A startled pause - it is unlike Alice to initiate such contact, and Maglor debates for a long, long moment before deciding that she needs it, and bending, he folds her in his arms, ever so briefly, pressing a kiss to her forehead before letting her go.
(He would hold her close and shut out the world, but it would only distress her, he knows)
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(He would hold her close and shut out the world, but it would only distress her, he knows)