Continuing this post on dysfunctional Flags dynamics...
The manga adaptation choosing to highlight Albatross' low self esteem and binge drinking habits has given me more evidence for the Flags being his primary enablers.
I headcanon that Albatross is someone who brings a bit of chaos everywhere he goes. When on the job his reckless and thrill-seeking nature can cause missions to go sideways more often than not. But his best skill is adapting to whatever situation arises and getting the job done no matter what.
So Mori loves him because a subordinate being destructive and causing problems doesn't matter to him as long as they consistently achieve their objectives (see Akutagawa's continued employment). But this messiness bleeds over into all aspects of his life and thus impacts his relationships with the Flags as well. They end up cleaning up after him and taking care of him a lot, and he feels guilty about it. But the Flags are of the "It’s not rotten work to me as long as it's you" mentality. (Which is something that Albatross unfortunately never managed to internalize or accept).
But I also see this pattern as them enabling his self-destructive habits because they want to shield him from consequences. They feel that confronting him about his behavior would be a betrayal of sorts. They're supposed to have his back. They don't want to upset him. They don't want to make him feel bad. So they just deal with the disasters as they come and don't talk about them after. But the thing is that Albatross does feel bad about it, he just has to pretend that he doesn't so as to also not rock the boat.
In this context the point where Chuuya gains a new level of intimacy with the Flags and is officially “in” on the group could be the moment where he witnesses the bad along with the good. When Albatross has an episode and the others swoop in to help him and worry about him, Chuuya is exposed to the vulnerabilities of this otherwise strong group. And he also realizes just how worried he is too, just how much he would care if anything truly bad happened to Albatross.
And because Chuuya is so famously bad at feelings, I can see him seamlessly sliding into this dysfunctional dynamic. He quickly understands that this isn’t an isolated event and that he’s not meant to bring it up again afterward. There’s an unspoken understanding that looking out for Albatross is Chuuya’s job now too. It’s a role he very easily accepts, given his history.
