Love the idea of play fighting becoming actual fighting that then dies down to play fighting again
Hornet always needing to be the victor and Lace always wanting the last laugh. It's this constant back and forth that leads to actual needle and pin being drawn, which eventually leads to undignified tussling in the dirt and a chorus of giggles, then theres a lull. There's an intimate quiet in the middle of their sparring where everything slows. They inspect eachothers claws, they lay still and listen to the others inner workings, they talk in low murmurs about nothing in particular but it means everything to them
And then one of them will do something, something like poke a side or sling an insult and then they're right back to rolling and kicking and pinning and yelling
Neither will really win in these scenarios, but they've both got thier own fabricated tallies in thier head. Hornet is winning in both versions and Lace is pissed