Battle of the Beasts

I just moved into my new house in DC. I am the sixth housemate (not counting pets), and I even out the gender ratio (3 guys and 3 girls), although I believe I am the sole "queer" representative in the bunch (which doesn't seem to bother anyone, which is good). The housemates all seem very nice, and the house is great (huge, beautiful, and in a safe neighborhood). I am nowhere near finished unpacking, but that's to be expected.

The only snafu thus far pertains to my cat. One of the housemates (E) already has a cat. E's cat is uber-shy and spends a lot of time hiding under E's bed. Louie is this cat's antithesis. Louie likes interaction. Louie always wants to PLAY. So when I brought Louie into the house, he immediately dove under E's bed and started meowing at her cat. He wanted to be friends! E's cat started to hiss and growl and freak out, which only caused Louie to meow louder and more intensely. This caused E, who is very protective of her cat, to freak out and decide that the two cats shouldn't interact. So, for now, E's cat remains behind closed doors in E's room, while Louie gets the run of the house. I feel bad about this, but there's really not much I can do. I think that if we let the cats do their own respective thangs and allow them to hiss and growl and scuffle a bit, they will get used to each other, get the animosity out of their systems, and learn to live together at least somewhat harmoniously.

Then again, I did just spend a month at Center's house, where her two cats were pretty much constantly embattled with one another, so this could be a similar case of irreconcilable feline differences. I sincerely hope it's not.