Anatoly had accepted long ago that he was anything but intimidating. He'd always been the awkward, nerdy one. In his teens, he'd been on the scrawny, all limbs side of things. After his growth spurt, he finally grew into his body, but that didn't really mean anything. Anatoly had always preferred brains to brawn. Instead of being an athlete, Anatoly would keep his nose stuck in a book. Before he had been introduced to chess by Svetlana, he'd had aspirations to be a doctor. This desire was, of course, due to what he'd been through with his sister. He wanted to be able to heal people, to help them as best as he could. And doctors were smart and respected. Of course, the one time he had tried to be assertive and tried to lay claim to Svetlana, it ended in disaster. And that one mistake was all he needed to learn. In the years they'd been together, that still remained the only time he tried to claim her.
It really didn't take much for Anatoly to see that the American society of this day and age put emphasis on the physical instead of the mental. The fact that Svetlana appreciated the mental over the physical aspects of a man was one thing he loved about her. Like Svetlana, Anatoly didn't go for the obvious type. He didn't like women that were an open book upon first meeting them. He liked the challenge, the mystery, and that is precisely what Svetlana was. Even now when he knew her so well, there were still times she surprised him, and he loved that. It really did remind him of how they used to be, which wasn't a bad thing. The memories did help in bringing him back to the man he wanted to be, the man that his wife and daughters deserved to have.
Oh yes, the joking was probably unexpected, but Anatoly felt this situation called for it. After all, they could use some lighter atmosphere. That was exactly what that guy had opened, and Anatoly was taking this wherever it might go. As long as Svetlana was receptive of it, which she was right now. As she teased him, he just looked at her, amused by it.
"You do have the gaze of stone. Anyone who saw it and didn't run would be a fool. They don't want to be around for when you really get down to business. I fear the consequences for those foolish enough to see that." That was his return. Perhaps this light-hearted teasing would help Svetlana. Oh he knew she was still struggling with the effects the alternate world left on her. Perhaps giving her something to joke about for a little bit would help to lighten at least a little of that burden for now. Besides, if she could tease, it meant that she was letting herself relax, to open up and let herself feel something. This was his ulterior motive, but mostly he was going for some light hearted atmosphere.