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They found time for each other almost every day now. It was tough for a while, Vegard had to be away for his own reasons, but when he came back it was almost as if he never left. Only he was nicer, more patient and more attentive a big brother than he'd been in years. Bård wondered slightly what brought on this change in him, but he preferred not to bring it up. Making Vegard aware of his own behavior usually led him to intentionally changing it, whether for better or for worse.
They went on walks together, the way they used to as kids. There wasn't much else to do anymore. They could be gone for hours until one of them, usually Bård, got tired and then they went home. Vegard often walked Bård home, but never agreed to come inside and say hi to the family. He was so antisocial, his big brother. Far be it from Bård to try and change him at this point in the game, though.
He wished he would come in sometimes and help him put up with the outrage he met every time he came home, angry wife and offspring telling him they were worried sick, asking where he went off to on his own. Nothing he could say convinced them that he was perfectly alright and that it was normal for him to disappear for a few measly hours. They’d forgotten, he thought. There used to be a time when he and his brother were both gone from home for weeks at a time and his children would barely deign to say hello when he finally showed up at the door before it was all "daddy I'm hungry" or "daddy look what I made today". But ever since they'd given up the long haul projects and his family got used to having him around so much, they made a fuss every time he stepped outside without one of them. He tried not to begrudge them wanting to be near him, but he felt so smothered and tied down sometimes, he couldn’t help it.
"Do you ever regret retiring?" He asked one day as they wandered rather aimlessly through the park along the small Akerselva river that coursed through eastern Oslo.
"Nah. It was time. Its better to quit while you're ahead."
Bård agreed with that, but still he was unsettled.
"Yeah, but do you miss it sometimes?" He looked up at his brother, examining his face as he thought. A chilly wind rustled the drying leaves in the trees overhead, distracting Vegard momentarily before he answered.
"I miss singing on stage."
Bård scoffed, "yeah, you would."
"Well, what do you miss then?"
The younger brother only shook his head at first. A young woman in jogging clothes passed by in a power walk, her tight blond ponytail swinging from side to side. She gave him a quick glance, puzzlement mixed with concentration (most likely trying to remember where she recognizes him from), before remembering her manners and looking ahead again. People seemed to do that a lot lately, especially when they were out together. He supposed that on his own he was far less conspicuous and people just passed him by without a second glance as they would anyone else, but when combined with Mr. Turku here, they suddenly raised a vague memory of five minutes of madness when the whole world was talking about "the fox guys". But that was hardly the highlight of their career. They'd done things they were far more proud of both before and after The Fox. Together they'd covered more ground in the entertainment industry than most comedians do in a lifetime. Maybe that was what he actually missed; doing new things. Creating, attempting and mastering something they'd never tried before. It seemed to keep him alive throughout the years, and now that it was over, the routine of family life and retirement set in, he felt himself withering. He wasn't nearly as energetic as he used to be. Is it really better to quit while you still have a taste for more than to wear yourself out?
He liked the stable home life at first, because then it was also new and therefore invigorating. But apparently he was not meant to stay in the same place for long. Restlessness, followed by lethargy set into his bones unless he bothered to shake it up every once in a while. At least he still had Vegard to keep him on his toes. He actually seemed to be taking it all rather well, oddly.
"I've always been more a creature of habit than you." Vegard explains, apparently reading Bård's thoughts, "I like a quiet life. I probably never would have gone into entertainment if it weren't for you."
Bård only listened, observing his older brother as ever who, after a moment of silence added with an affectionate smile, "not that I'm complaining."
"I probably never would have survived in it as long as I have if it wasn't for you." Bård said at last, and Vegard immediately dismissed him.
"No, don't be silly. You'd have done great one way or the other. You never give yourself enough credit!"
"A symptom of growing up in my brother's shadow."
" 'My shadow..' " Vegard rolled the thought around in his mind, looking for all of its possible meanings. It was no secret between them that Bård harbored a bit of an inferiority complex when it came to comparing their musical talents. Through much hard work he'd managed to convince himself there were other things he was better than Vegard at and that it evened them out ultimately, but some things will stay with you forever no matter what you do.
Vegard wasn't much for heartfelt conversations however, so he quickly changed the subject into something more impersonal.
And so they trundled along at a leisurely pace up against the river’s current, the rushing sound of a waterfall sneaking up on them so gradually, they didn't notice where they were headed until it became harder to talk over the noise.
Vegard nodded up at something across the water ahead of them, indicating for Bård to have a look.
It was the old Concorde TV headquarters. It wasn't there anymore, they'd moved it a few years ago to a bigger venue in order to accommodate how much their production company had grown. It was mostly run by other people now, though Ylvis still had final say on anything it produced. Vegard wouldn't come near it. Bård could consult him if he so wished, but he insisted that the younger brother deal with all correspondence, meetings, phone calls, etcetera. And he was infuriatingly cryptic about why he was so hellbent on not contributing himself to the company anymore. No one other than Bård seemed to question this behavior, though.
The building stood tall over the water bank. Black, rusting fire escape stairs running down the wall between shut windows. It was still in use, just for other things. Nothing of theirs was there anymore, except memories. They weren't sentimentalists, however. They let the memories come and put vague smiles on their faces, and then leave again into the back of their minds where they belonged. They walked up to the bridge connecting both banks directly over the waterfall. They each used to come out here to have a quiet moment during long days at the office. There were hardly any people around this part of town and the waterfall really drowned out anything else. The noise of the water has you standing alone with your thoughts whether someone is there with you or not.
Bård watched the water flowing rapidly below his feet, tumbling off rocks and tripping over weeds on it's way down to a quieter, calmer place. An inexplicable impulsiveness overcame him. He felt like doing something silly and random. He wanted to see something new or something old in a new perspective. He looked around for an answer, and his eyes landed on Vegard, who stood with his back to him, hands in his coat pockets, looking up at the buildings nearby. He called his name quietly. He barely heard himself over the water but Vegard turned immediately with an interested expression on his face.
"do you think any of these trees are good for climbing?" He asked. Vegard looked around and gave a noncommittal shrug.
"I want to be higher." Bård said, hoping Vegard wouldn't make him explain why because he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to do this, and Vegard was the only person left in the world who didn't constrict him anymore, tell him he can't do the things he wanted. But if Vegard asked him why and he wouldn't be able to give a good answer, he might not be willing to help.
He didn't ask, though. All he said was, "how about the shoulder stand?"
"Think you can still handle it?" Bård was getting excited, but he didn't want Vegard doing something possibly harmful to himself just to satisfy his irrational impulse. They weren’t in their 20’s anymore.
"I'll always be able to handle your weight, little brother." Vegard responded with a grin, the words 'little brother' having a friendly mocking tone Bård had heard many times before.
"Here, on the bridge?"
"It's as stable a place as any. Just do it right and keep your balance, I don't want you toppling over into the stream." Vegard took a steady stance, planting his feet firmly on the ground, one knee bent slightly to serve as a shelf for Bård to step on his way up to his shoulders. He held out his hands for him to take and in three quick steps Bård climbed on and held Vegard's hands until he felt steady enough on his shoulders to straighten up.
It was like flying. His arms outstretched to each side, his brother’s hands gripping his legs, he felt truly free this high up over the river. He saw so far ahead he could have sworn he saw the river pouring into the sea, miles away through the trees and bridges downstream. Everything was visible to him and he breathed in deeply the autumn air, the smell of the damp leaves and sweet cold water and moss and stone. The wind blew a gust through his hair and threatened to steal his scarf, but he knew everything would be alright because he still felt Vegard’s fingers holding tight to his ankles.
It was like flying, free and safe in his brother’s keep.
The morning was cold and grey. The wind blew mercilessly through the trees and buildings, stinging exposed cheeks and drying tired eyes. A discarded cigarette butt tumbled through the cobblestone street. A Norwegian flag flapped helplessly atop the roof of a local high school. Perhaps it would rain soon.
The screen at the bus stop displayed the morning news for the commuters to have something to look at while they waited for the bus. The main story, something about the upcoming election, took up a quarter of the allotted space. Beside it were smaller stories about politics, crime and so on. Further down was a general weather report for the day for Norway’s main cities, adjoined with a forecast for the next seven days in Oslo. The remaining space was left for articles about culture, celebrities and the entertainment industry in general. There, no more than 30cm in diameter, a small article read:
Bård Urheim Ylvisåker (87) the last remaining member of world-famous Norwegian duo ‘Ylvis’, found dead two days ago in the Akerselva river in Oslo.
Bård Ylvisåker, co-founder of production company Concorde TV, was found by a civilian, washed up in the bushes near the bank in the Akerselva river on Sunday evening. Officials arrived on the scene and pronounced his death, assessing that he must have fallen into the river further upstream, received a blow to the head and died of his injury roughly an hour before he was found.
‘Bård often went wandering around on his own’ says daughter Sofie, ‘We tried to look after him, but he was a restless spirit. He didn’t really like company all that much.’
He was the youngest brother of the world-famous Ylvis duo, best known for the their 2014 youtube hit, The Fox. Older brother Vegard Urheim Ylvisåker, passed away three years ago from heart failure.
For information on the memorial service, please scan the qr code.