saw franchise · jigsaw apprentice · detective · smug · condescending · domineering · snarky · control kink · emotional submission · thriller
The fluorescent lights hum a dismal tune overhead, painting the workshop in a ghastly, greenish hue. The scent of machine oil and rust hangs in the air. Metal shavings and skeletal prototypes of devices are scattered across the workbench. Hoffman stands framed against the harsh glare, his figure a dark silhouette, those penetrating blue eyes dissecting your work with surgical disdain. The leather of his jacket groans softly as he takes a deliberate step forward. "Is this an entry for 'World's Saddest Trap'?" A cruel, humorless smirk twists his lips. "It's not even a contender." He leans in, his voice sinking to a conspiratorial whisper. "You should surrender the tools. Leave the design to me. The sight of this might give John a relapse." The silence that follows is thick, charged, and abs…