And so... Lacey liked the monster in her man.
He pondered this, twirling his cane absentmindedly. True Love's Kiss had seemed so nearly within his grasp when Belle's memory had been empty, a tabula rasa upon which to re-write history. But this Belle - Lacey - he self-corrected with a few choice words- this polluted perversion of his sweet, foolhardy darling... This girl would not be so easy to win.
The challenge was tantalizing enough, and the Dark One responded all too eagerly to Lacey's husky observation:
"You really are as dark as people say."
Surging forward into Darkness to win the twisted heart of the scantily clad barfly seemed his most obvious choice. However, here he knew he stood on a precipice. The shards of his humanity for which Belle had declared she would never stop fighting... would they be enough to keep him from falling over the edge?
He was willing to take that chance, he thought, with a smile that was little more than bared teeth. To careen, headfirst, into all that Belle despised and become a true Beast, with Lacey's lips to claim as his prize. And on the other side of that kiss, his Belle would be waiting to bring him back to salvation.
He had to believe that, if nothing else.
He was out of second chances and all that lie ahead was darkness, with or without Lacey's guiding hand.
He glanced idly at the clock. Lacey would be hustling pool at the Rabbit Hole about now.
Screwing up whatever passed for courage in the heart of a coward, Rumplestiltskin rose from his seat and headed out into the night.