Gus x David

Gus x David is the slash ship between Gustavo Fring and David from the Better Call Saul fandom.

Season 6
FUN AND GAMES

After a tense meeting with Gus, Bolsa, Eladio, Hector, and the Cousins at Eladio's hacienda where Hector accuses Gus of having Nacho act as a double agent to attempt to kill Lalo and that Gus killed Lalo himself, Gus is left unharmed but anxious at the confrontation. After speaking to Mike about plans surrounding closing Howard's death file and resuming construction on the underground lab, Gus arrives at an elegant restaurant that the dialogue seems to imply he frequents. He sits at the bar and asks the waitress for a glass of a red wine as a starter. As she pours it for him, he surveys his surroundings and sees David, helping a table with his back to Gus.

Gus drinks his wine as David finishes with the table and comes up to him, telling him that it's been some time since the two had seen each other. David asks Gus how his wine is and Gus doesn't reply, showing David that he's not impressed. David takes his glass and asks the waitress for a wine of David's choosing. David goes on to tell Gus the story about how the particular vintage was opened for the first time only hours before Gus's arrival by a cocky customer uneducated on wines. Gus listens, amused, before tasting the wine and describing it as "remarkable." David says that he knew Gus would like it and then tells Gus the year and place the wine was made and launches into a story about his college years in Europe for the first time. Gus listens politely and watches David the entire time, smiling and nodding along. David asks if he's speaking too much and Gus ensures that he isn't as he smells the cork. After David's story, Gus tells him that a year prior, Gus bought a rare and expensive bottle of wine that David had mentioned to him, and that he had been saving it for a special occasion. David calls him Mr. Fring and Gus insists that he call him Gustavo instead. David tells him that he would love to hear about the wine after he has the special occasion and Gus's smile falters. David tells Gus that there's a new rare vintage that the owner of the restaurant recently bought that he wants Gus to see, and Gus agrees as David hurries to the back to find it. While David is gone, Gus finishes the wine in his glass and leaves without waiting for David to return, telling the waitress to tell David that he was suddenly called away while he pays her. She agrees.

Fanon
Despite being a fleeting scene in only a single episode, fans quickly clung onto this scene of Gus and David as explicit confirmation that Gus was gay based on the way him and David interacted. Most articles about this episode focused on this small scene and its potential for a reframing of the character through a canonically queer lens. Further confirmation that cements this interaction as canon was show writer Melissa Bernstein's explanation of the scene as Gus "flirting" with David in the extras for the Better Call Saul Season 6 DVD. There are currently only 5 fan fictions on AO3 of Gus x David, making it a strange combination of a rarepair that is simultaneously canon to the work.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad writer Melissa Bernstein confirmed Gus and David's flirting in a behind-the-scenes DVD clip. This is the second time Gus's sexuality has been theorized about or outright stated in a behind-the-scenes clip with the writers.