I think you've found Hobbit Smarm, Hal. And, yes, it sounds like a disease. The symptoms can include: extreme schmoopiness, excessive non-sexual touching, repeated declarations of Very Best Friendship, and lots of gazing, pining, and assorted sighing.

I ran into smarm a lot in Sentinel, and it never made any sense to me. Either Jim and Blair were in love and hot for each other, or they were just really good pals, but the reasoning behind smarm and its straddling of the fence with its kisses on the forehead and hour-long hugs totally escapes me.