Well, turns out these gifts are something special indeed. The past few weeks have been incredible, though I've noticed some downsides.
I can encourage people to love me, but the affects seem to wear off after an hour or so. It's nice, being able to get a free meal from a pretty server, or to get some rich guy to buy drinks for the entire bar, but using it too much gives me headaches. And, well-- let's not talk about the time I got someone to take me home for the night and got thrown out half naked.
Selling off those game systems we snagged on that last contract gave me enough that I was able to put a deposit on a small apartment and pay a couple months ahead. Still, knowing all this is possible- I want more.
I haven't gotten in contact with my parents yet. I was able to get some information on them, but it might be some time before I'm close enough for them to love me. That, and- well, I want their love to be genuine. This power is useful, and it'll help me get what I need, but I'm going to have to be creative to get what I want.