Azul and Vil

Book 5 begins with Azul boasting of Vil’s celebrity status to Riddle, but Vil is not amused, calling Azul a “chatterbox” and saying, “Would you kindly cease your embarrassing slavering?”

Upon learning that Vil aspires to become a bigger star than his father Azul says, “I shall have to make sure I stay in your good graces.”

Vil does not seem to have the best opinion of Azul, saying, “If nothing else, I respect his spirit of self-improvement. ..emphasis on “nothing else.”

In Azul’s profile for Luxe, Vil describes him as “a smooth talker, as gifted as any conman.” His profile also states that Azul is “courteous and elegant,” but it is a little unclear if that was the literal wording or if the phrasing was being filtered by Luxe staff.

On the red carpet Vil cautions Azul against distributing business cards, and tells him not to introduce himself as a friend from school: “That’s going to come back to bite me, I just know it…”

After meeting Vil’s father Azul says, “He was so elegant and chic. I can only hope to be like that when I reach his age.”

When Azul considers adding a drink from a Fairest City restaurant to the menu at Mostro Lounge, Vil says that he might stop by to have one. Azul says, “If you’d be willing to upload some pictures, perhaps of the menu, to your Magicam account, I’d give you your entire meal on the house,” which Vil refuses.

Azul trying to get Vil to promote Mostro Lounge is a common theme: he invites Epel to the lounge to encourage him to take advantage of a special promotion being held for Azul’s own birthday, emphasizing that Epel should bring the upperclassmen from his dorm. Afterwards Azul reflects, “I do hope Epel passes the word on to his upperclassmen and gets them to come along— particularly Vil.

Once Vil orders something, I can market it as ‘Vil Schoenheit’s favorite menu item.’…Everything hinges on whether or not he visits. I’d better review my plans for tomorrow.”

Azul also asks the prefect to take a photo of himself with Vil’s father, saying, “It’s sure to make a big splash when I hang it up at the Mostro Lounge.”

Azul encourages Vil to visit the lounge to see the photo that the group takes with Eric, to which Vil responds, “Pitiful. First Dad, and now you’re trying to use ME to raise the profile of that little establishment of yours?,” but Vil has already promoted Mostro Lounge in an earlier vignette, though he is possibly unaware he did it: under the guise of wanting to join Pomefiore, Jade takes on the role of assistant to Vil, which gives him the opportunity to take a photo of a drink and upload it to Vil’s own Magicam with the caption, “Relaxing with my #favbeautydrink.”

This is revealed to have been a successfully orchestrated plot by Azul to get Vil to promote a new drink at Mostro Lounge to his five million followers for free,.

During Vargas Camp Azul again arranges for Vil to contribute to Mostro Lounge by refusing to share magestones for use against the Vargas Monster until Vil and Trey agree to work for him, getting Vil to agree to provide his original smoothies to customers for two days. (Later, however, he reveals that his real aim was negotiating give days of Trey’s confectionary expertise.)

In a vignette we see Vil contract with Azul, agreeing to exchange ten rare poisonous plants in exchange for a skin toner of Azul’s creation, but Azul does not appear to invoke his unique magic and this may have been a regular contract and not magically infused.

Azul’s toner is a success, with Vil saying, “The rumors about you granting any wish in exchange for suitable recompense were all true, I see. I have always suspected that you might know of some unique beauty techniques. I knew because your skin is quite glossy if one strains to look. And not just you, but also those twins who are always with you.”

Vil and Azul overlap at the mines during Vargas Camp by coincidence rather than from any desire to work together, and when Azul suggests a collaboration between their two clubs Vil refuses.

Azul responds, “I just thought that working together would save both of us valuable time and energy. After all, the Film Research Club hasn’t split up, and this is your first stop. A few extra pairs of hands wouldn’t hurt, right?,” and Vil reluctantly agrees with the condition that Azul promises not to interfere with the Film Club’s work.

It is ultimately Vil who interferes with Azul, however, with Vil forcing Azul out of the mine and to abandon his mining efforts after believing he saw a suspicious shadow.

During the Tapis Rouge event Vil and Azul find common ground on the subject of a doughnut that uses “a huge amount of high-calorie cream,” resulting in Jamil not buying it.

During Book 6 they also agree on the subject of NDAs: Idia asks, “Who actually reads every word from top to bottom and asks nitpicky questions about each point?,” and Vil says, “You have to make sure you understand and agree with the terms before signing something. That’s common sense,” while Azul agrees, saying, “If I got caught in some contract because of the fine print, I’d never live it down,” and Riddle agrees with them both.

During Tapis Rouge, however, it is only Azul who takes care to review the NDA they are provided at a movie studio (“Contracts are not to be entered into lightly”), with Vil saying, “I trust you weren’t looking for some kind of loophole? Not EVERYTHING needs to be scoured for some advantage, you know.”

When it is revealed that Jamil and Ace helped rig the lottery to decide who would join Vil in the Fairest City on Azul’s instructions, Vil approves, saying, “You played to your strengths, and chose a game you could win, rigged or no. I’d say you passed the test.” Azul responds, “I never doubted you would understand.”

When Azul purchases expensive shoes at Luxe Jamil and Ace react with surprise, but Vil says, “I’d say these are a perfect choice. Good eye.”

Azul explains, “This is an investment. Wearing these shoes will only open the doors to even greater profits,” and Azul says, “So you bought them just to raise your standing in the world? I can appreciate that sort of greed.”

Upon entering the restaurant where they are to meet Vil’s father for lunch Azul is awestruck, saying, “I was just taking in how…how wonderful all this is. The decorations, the staff’s uniforms, the music in the background,” and Vil says, “Seeing you so overjoyed makes me glad I brought you here.”

Impressed by Azul’s knowledge of tableware, Vil volunteers to go shopping with him in the Fairest City. 

During the red carpet event Azul intercepts a reporter trying to climb over a railing for better access to Vil, physically holding back both the reporter and the barrier itself and threatening to file a complain with their employer.

Azul says, “When you’ve been in business as long as I have, you learn a thing or two about how to deal with unruly clients,” but an impressed Vil compliments him, saying, “It’s not just your handling of the press. You’ve proven a worthy escort as well.”

Azul responds, “Yes, well, in business, hospitality often necessitates a…hands-on approach.” Azul also helps guide Vil up the stairs of the venue (Vil: “My, such a gentleman. Thank you”).

After the event Vil goes to Mostro Lounge (Azul: “Just as promised.” – Vil: “I don’t recall promising anything”), saying, “I recall how well you supported me on our excursion. I’m expecting a similar level of service here,” so it is possible that his visit was to thank Azul for his assistance on the red carpet.

When Azul points out that the expensive tea set that he bought when they went shopping together is being used by Deuce and Epel, Vil points out how unlikely it is that they—or anyone else in the lounge—are aware of how expensive the tableware is.

Azul explains that he has no intention of ever making compromises, comparing it to Vil not wearing outfits or using makeup unless they suit his personal tastes. Vil observes, “Uncompromising attention to detail… An admirable quality. Perhaps I’ve misjudged you.”

Azul responds, “Of course, when I can serve a customer who understands the value of what they are presented with, all the better,” and, “I’ll see your meal is served in some special tableware I’ve set aside.”