He did wonder just how different things would be now if he had continued to follow the road to becoming a doctor. No doubt their lives would not have gotten so dark and separated. He wouldn't have missed out on his daughter's lives as much as he had. Svetlana wouldn't have become so closed off. He wouldn't have gotten himself entangled in mind games and politics, though he really had tried to stay away from the political end of the game of chess. Anatoly had an inherent dislike of politics. He had borne no love towards the ruling government in Russia, but he'd kept his mouth shut about that. After all, he knew what happened to those that disagreed with the ruling party. But on the flip side, had he become a doctor, pride still could have caught up with him if he'd been exceptionally good within whatever field he would have gone in to. So perhaps regardless of what path in life he was to take, pride would have always found him somehow.
But at least now, he wasn't running blindly into pride. He knew what to look for, knew it would now always be a part of him. That was why he needed to be far more conscious of his choices from now on. The last thing he needed, that his family needed, was for him to make some stupid decision that fed into his pride. He didn't want to walk down that road again as long as he could help it. He needed to heal his family, keep them together, not grow away from them again. That was why he was working so hard to find a way back to the man he used to be, to let go of the strangle hold he'd had on his emotions for so long. He needed to open up and be humble again. Well, as humble as he could be. He'd always have some measure of pride, but as long as he could keep it to a dull roar, things would be all right.
The light atmosphere would definitely add to this. Anatoly had always had a sense of humor when he was younger, though it didn't show through until he got to know someone. His humor was a sign that he was comfortable with someone, and true it could show up at strange times or out of the blue, but such was how his humor worked. It tended to be more on the playful and teasing end rather than the sarcastic, but he was known to throw out the sarcastic tone every once in a while. At Svetlana's retort, he calmly set his tea down and pretended to take a long look at Svetlana's hair, examining it. Of course, he was only teasing, though there was a contemplative look on his face. But there was a bit of a sparkle in his eyes giving away his inner laughter.
"Well perhaps for the moment it is actual hair. I could have sworn I thought I saw a snake when I was coming over here with the tea." Then, just as calmly as he'd set his tea down, he picked it up and sipped it.
It was almost heart-wrenching to realize how much he'd missed this kind of teasing. But the fact that they could sit here and share it again said a lot. It only further proved that they both were willing to work this through, to find their connection again. While he well knew they had a lot they needed to talk about and talk through, he also knew that finding their connection meant more than doing that. They needed to reconnect mentally and emotionally in more than one way. They'd all ready found they could still read a chess board like they once had. Now they were finding they could tease and be playful again. Everything else would follow with time.