Skittish, shy and very noisy 5 month old

Good morning.

I'm hoping some of you can help me with this, I've had lots of cats in the past but never kittens so our new kittens behaviour is somewhat concerning me.

We adopted him on Saturday afternoon, he was very timid at the cattery and seemed attached to another 6 month old kitten (I believe they have been raised together even though they are from different litters).

At first he was obviously very timid and found the smallest, tightest space to hide under, and whilst he kept coming out for a good sniff around the house when it was quiet he would always retreat there.

Last night (Sunday) he was quite playful and I spent a good few hours playing with his toys with him. Despite this he's still not very happy about human contact and cowers away if you approach him, runs to hide if you move or stretch and moves quickly away if you move to stroke him.

Despite this I'm confident that given some time we can build up his trust and he'll come to us for petting in the future, but it is his vocalisations that are worrying me. Quite a lot throughout the day and almost constantly throughout the night he's crying (for want of a better word), very very loudly at times. Sometimes he will wonder around the room his is in, sniffing around and crying loudly at the corners or the walls, and I'm aware that I shouldn't be personifying the situation by attributing too many human behaviours to him but can anyone shed some light on what his being very noisy is all about?

To be completely honest I'm finding it absolutely soul destroying, it's so upsetting to know that he's clearly distressed about something but we can't approach him to cuddle him and reassure him.

Is this noisiness a normal feature in some cats and young kittens moving to a new home and will he likely stop doing it eventually? Neither my partner or I have had a wink of sleep, admittedly partly because he's making such a mournful and loud cry most of the time but also because we're worrying so much about him.

I've had a few people recommend getting another kitten for him to befriend. Originally this was our plan and we were due to go and collect another kitty on Wednesday however after seeing how distressed our beautiful little first kitten is we didn't know whether to hold off on this or not until we can build up some trust with him.

Any help, ideas, experiences and support would be very very much appreciated at this juncture as I feel like I'm letting him down by not being able to respond to him and understand why he's crying so loudly.

The other kitten sadly has already gone to another home otherwise that would have been my first thought.

He's actually beginning to settle down. I'm not sure if it's the Feliway or just the natural settling process but he vary rarely cries (he's still a very vocal little kitty but no caterwauling any more).

He's pitched out his own hidey hole behind a chair in the corner of the room, but it's not so much a though he's hiding any more, he just seems to like the peace and quiet back there.

He's getting lots of attention twice or three times daily from me (who knew feathers on sticks could be so much fun) and he seems like a much more relaxed kitty.

Hopefully this is just the beginning and he'll continue to improve. The only thing he's still not fond of at all is being stroked and human contact in general but I'm confident that we can earn his trust with time.

We're collecting fur-baby number two tonight, a little Ragdoll who'll be about three and a half months old and from what I've heard from the breeder is all play and fun and games and is very confident and forthright. I'll keep an eye on them together over the next few days and make sure they are getting along properly!